Category: Government Actions

PA State Board of Ed. Holds 387th Meeting (September 11, 2025)

On September 11, 2025, the PA Sate Board of Education (Board) held its 387th meeting during a series of meetings at the PDE building in Harrisburg and via Zoom. Board Chair Karen Farmer White opened the meeting at 1PM.

Committee reports were provided by the Hon. Carol Aichele on behalf of the Special Committee on Private School Accreditation and Sandra Dungee Glenn on behalf of the Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness Committee. Ms. Aichele reported that the committee is recommending the approval of two accreditation organizations for the private academic schools — the PA Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Ms. Dungee Glenn reported that her committee is weighing possible changes to written certification assessments to ensure alignment with expected competencies.

Acting Secretary of Ed. Dr. Carrie Rowe reported on a number if issues. She praised the collaboration between Higher Ed. and Elementary and Secondary Ed.; Elementary and Secondary Ed. and Early Childhood Ed.; and the involvement of libraries in these collaborative efforts.

Dr. Rowe also reported that state budget talks continue amid some challenging issues that are making the progress slow moving. However, negotiations are ongoing and productive. She also said that due to the lack of funding as a result of the delayed budget, there are school districts with large payments looming that they not be able to make and making payroll is a key concern. PDE is looking at ways to help those school districts as best it can, but the ability to help is limited and the department really has no funds to help defray costs. At this point, most school districts are OK for now. Dr. Rowe also cautioned that, once a budget is approved, it will take at least 15 days for funds to begin to flow to schools. Lastly, Dr. Rowe reported that the use of NAEP, also known as the nation’s report card, as an indicator of educational progress can be problematic since that assessment is not necessarily congruous with current state assessments.

Deputy Ed. Secretary Amy Lena said that at the Council of Basic Ed. meeting she reported that two reports from PDE are now available and those reports look at Special Ed. and Gifted Ed. with regard to complaints, due process hearings, and compliance issues. She also reminded everyone that the Office of Safe Schools has been renamed as the Office for School Climate and Well-Being. She also remarked that the PDE 427, a summative assessment tool for education professionals going from Instructional I to Instructional II certification and Educational I and Educational II certification, has been revised and is now in use as of August 31. It is split into two separate forms, one specifically for Classroom Teachers and another for Non-Teaching Professionals — Form A for classroom professionals and Form B for non-classroom educational specialists.

The meeting closed with the unanimous approval of two action items — the renewal applications from PAIS and MSCHE. 

U.S. House Appropriations Committee Approves 26% Cut to Title I funding for FY26 (September 11, 2025)

As reported by K-12 Dive, on September 9, 2025 the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, after a day-long debate, advanced a bill that would reduce federal Title I funding for low-income schools by 26% and cut the overall U.S. Department of Education (USDE) budget by 15% to $67 billion for fiscal year 2026 (FY26). The bill was approved by a vote of 8-4 along party lines with all Republicans voting to approve and all Democrats opposing the bill.

The budget plan aligns closely with President Donald Trump’s proposal, but veers sharply from the bipartisan plan agreed to by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee in July. The Senate plan recommends funding the USDE in FY 26 at $79 billion, or an increase of about $300 million from the current spending level.

The House and Senate will now need to separately debate their bills and, once approved, work to reconcile the two proposals before the start of FY26 on October 1, 2025.

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

USDE Will End Funding for Minority-Serving Institutions of Higher Ed. (September 11, 2025)

According to the Chronicle Of Higher Education, on September 10, 2025 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced its intention to end grant funding for minority-serving institutions, a move affecting hundreds of colleges that serve a disproportionate number of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The USDE said it would eliminate programs aimed at colleges serving large numbers of Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students, Asian American students, and Hispanic students. Also affected are grants for predominantly Black institutions and Native American-serving institutions — designations for colleges that educate a large share of Black and Native students but were not founded as historically Black colleges or tribal colleges.

In a statement published on its website, the USDE described its interpretation that grants for minority-serving institutions, or MSIs, are effectively discriminatory “by conferring government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas.”

The USDE also said that its move would affect $350 million in discretionary funding that was already allocated by Congress to minority-serving grant programs in the 2025 fiscal year. That money will be “reprogrammed into programs that do not include discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas,” according to the department’s statement. Some MSI grants are administered by other agencies.

A majority of MSIs are Hispanic-serving, meaning that at least 25 percent of full-time student enrollment identifies as Hispanic or Latino. The HSI designation, created by Congress in 1992 with bipartisan support, was intended to increase educational attainment for Hispanic students, who were enrolling in and graduating from college at low rates. Currently, Hispanic students are the fastest-growing demographic group in higher education

Colleges become eligible for minority-serving funding by meeting a series of criteria, including an enrollment threshold and demonstrated financial need.

The USDE said its decision to end MSI funding stems from a lawsuit filed in June 2025 by the State of Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions. In that case, the USDE refused to defend the program in court.

View the USDE statement on its website by clicking here.

FCC Proposal Would Disconnect School Bus Wi-Fi, Hotspots from E-rate Coverage (September 9. 2025)

An E-rate expansion that allowed schools to use the program’s funds for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots for students could soon be reversed, pending a vote called for by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr.

According to a spokesperson, commissioners can vote on the matter outside of their open monthly meetings at their discretion.

With a Republican majority among the three commissioners, it is highly possible the E-rate expansion could be reversed and, if so, the FCC will direct USAC to deny the pending FY 25 requests to use E-rate funds for hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi services.

Currently, millions of students and older adults rely on the expanded E-rate services for homework and telehealth services, while school bus Wi-Fi access is especially beneficial for students in rural areas with long commutes to school.

In  May, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led a U.S. Senate vote approving a bill that would repeal the FCC’s decision to cover hotspots under E-rate. The bill is still awaiting action from the U.S. House.

Click here for more from K-12 Dive.

DHS Posts Medicaid, SNAP Alert on Website (September 7, 2025)

Here is the Alert posted on the DHS website:

on the In July 2025, Republicans in Congress passed a bill that will change programs run by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS). President Trump signed that bill into law. 

The law makes changes to Medicaid (Medical Assistance) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Medicaid has not changed at this time. For some SNAP recipients, these changes will begin September 1, 2025 and November 1, 2025. Learn more about SNAP work requirements, how they affect SNAP benefits, and how to report that you are meeting these requirements. 

Your benefits have not changed at this time and will not change without notice from DHS. You will have the opportunity to update your case information.

Be on the lookout for more information from DHS. Keep your address and other contact information up-to-date with DHS and the US Postal Service. We will help you prepare for these changes as they come.