Category: News

PDE: Data Creates A World Of Opportunities For Public Education (March 12, 2024)

On March12, 2024, Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Dr. Khalid N. Mumin served as the keystone speaker at the PDE Data Summit in Hershey, highlighting how data can create opportunities for public education in the Commonwealth. According to Sec. Mumin, the Shapiro Administration is committed to making sure students get the support they need to succeed – in school and beyond. The 2024-25 budget proposal builds on last year’s progress to ensure all Pennsylvania children have the opportunity to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed, by investing in our public schools, teachers, facilities and more. 

This year’s proposal includes a nearly $1.1 billion increase in basic education funding – the largest in Pennsylvania history. The 2024-25 budget proposal also includes $300 million for school environmental repairs, $100 million for mental health supports in schools, a $50 million increase for special education funding, a $50 million annual investment in school safety and security improvements, and $30 million to build and support the educator workforce.

Data plays a critical role in determining policy and budgetary priorities in any given year, and this year specifically informed a number of key initiatives. For example, a 20% increase in universal free breakfast participation indicated a need to continue the program, and Governor Josh Shapiro has requested an additional $16.7 million to ensure our kids have access to a free breakfast at school. Additionally, the governor’s blueprint for higher education was rooted in data that supports the need for a new governance structure and increased investments in the higher education sector. Pennsylvania ranks 49th in the nation for investment in higher education and 48th in affordability, Pennsylvanians carry an average student debt load of $40,000, and our Commonwealth has a talent gap of 61,000 open jobs that we don’t have enough workers to fill in the past year alone.

The PDE Data Summit convenes educators and school leaders to learn, connect, ask questions, and discuss education data with school staff and leaders from across the state. Keynote speakers and breakout sessions offer information, resources, and tools on a wide variety of topics, from reporting school data, improving data quality and making data-based decisions, to data governance, school improvement, cybersecurity, social and emotional learning, and more. 

Attendees at the three-day conference, themed “A World of Opportunities: See Where Data Can Take You”, experience impactful professional learning opportunities, gain technical skills, and leave with a better understanding of their data and how it can be used to support and benefit the school communities they serve.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the Department of Education website.

Biden Administration Proposes 3.9% FY 2025 increase for Education, Also  Announces Expansion of Registered Apprenticeships (March 12, 2024)

On March 11, 2024, the Biden administration released its FY2025 budget, which proposes a 3.9% increase over fiscal 2023 for the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), for a total of $82 billion in discretionary funding for early learning, K-12, and higher education. Education-related proposals include a guarantee of high-quality child care at a cost of no more than $10 a day for the vast majority of families and an expansion of tutoring, after-school and summer programs. The budget also calls for investments aimed at easing teacher shortages. Another proposed initiative is a new Academic Acceleration and Achievement grant program at $8 billion for which details are yet to come but are expected to support and sustain learning interventions developed with COVID emergency funds, particularly for students with the highest needs.

In addition, the Biden Administration previously announced nearly $200 million in grants to expand registered apprenticeship programs, especially in high-demand areas that include K-12 teaching.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDE Likely to Miss Latest Title IX Revision Deadline (March 11, 2024)

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has yet to produce final proposals for two Title IX proposals due to their controversial nature. The most recent deadline of this month is likely to come and go as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs continues to hold meetings upon request with members of the public to discuss the proposed regulations. In fact, according to K-12 Dive OMB still has 17 additional meetings scheduled through March 28th.

One proposal would protect LGBTQ+ students under the federal anti-discrimination law for the first time. It would also change Title IX implementation in a way that would make investigation and resolution processes more practical for schools educators. The other proposal would create a framework for transgender students’ participation on sports teams that align with their gender identities.

Both controversial proposals have already seen two deadlines missed – first last May and most recently last October.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Biden’s State of the Union Touts High-quality Tutoring (March 8, 2024)

In his March 7th State of the Union Address to Congress, President Joe Biden called for raising the number of tutors and mentors in schools to help address learning loss; increasing and expanding high-quality tutoring and summer learning programs; expanding the child tax credit; implementing universal preschool; and the importance of preventing gun violence while calling attention to its impacts on schools.

He also said to “Stop denying another core value of America, our diversity” and decried the banning of books to serve the purpose of silencing diverse voices and topics.

For more information, click here.

CDC Lifts COVID-19 Isolation Guidance (March 4, 2024)

On March 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated COVID-19 guidance for community settings. According to the update, people who have tested positive can return to normal activities when they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without taking medication; thus, they no longer need to isolate for five days.

The CDC also recommends that those people who return to work use additional prevention strategies for the next five (5) days to help curb the virus’ spread. As a result, the CDC’s new guidance now matches public health advice for flu and other respiratory illnesses. That advice is to stay home when you’re sick, but return to school or work once you’re feeling better and you’ve been without a fever for 24 hours.

The revisions result from  decreases in the most severe outcomes of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as the realization that many people are no longer testing themselves for COVID-19.

Source: NBC News

Excerpts from the CDC’s New Guidance

Stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren’t better explained by another cause. These symptoms can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.*

  • You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:
    • Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
    • You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).
  • When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.
    • Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.
    • If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precaution for the next 5 days.

*Symptoms may include but are not limited to chest discomfort, chills, cough, decrease in appetite, diarrhea, fatigue (tiredness), fever or feeling feverish, headache, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste or smell, runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, vomiting, weakness, wheezing.