Thousands of DACA teachers await uncertain fate Presented by Comcast

With help from Benjamin Wermund and Caitlin Emma.

THOUSANDS OF DACA TEACHERS AWAIT UNCERTAIN FATE: Though it’s hard to say for certain, experts estimate that roughly 8,800 educators working in U.S. classrooms, lecture halls and libraries are undocumented immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Whether they’ll be able to remain in their jobs, and in the country, remains unclear amid turbulent negotiations among congressional lawmakers and the White House.


— “This yo-yo-ing of hope and despair is exhausting. It’s wearing our teachers down,” said Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, a union representing teachers in the Texas capital. Zarifis told Morning Education that he is aware of at least a dozen teachers working in Austin schools who face losing their work permits if Congress doesn’t come up with a legislative fix for DACA, but he said he suspects many more have been privately facing a similar fate since President Donald Trump called for an end to the program last summer.

— Teach For America, which enlists college graduates to teach in low-income schools under two-year commitments, says that roughly 190 of its corps members and alumni are covered under DACA. More than 40 could lose their work permits and face deportation by the end of the year, while the rest would face a similar fate by the end of 2019.

— “Their principals are asking if they’re going to be returning next year, but many can’t say. Some can’t say they’ll be able to continue through the end of the school year,” TFA’s Viridiana Carrizales told Morning Education. If Congress doesn’t pass a legislative fix for DACA, the organization will stop accepting undocumented recruits as early as this fall, Carrizales said.

— School districts and other employers typically collect work authorization documents when new hires come on board, so employers are privy to work permit expiration dates. Zarifis said he hopes districts and principals won’t be quick to act on DACA recipients’ expirations. But Carrizales said some past and current TFA members are already facing questions from their employers, who are required to abide by the law. “If DACA teachers are unable to submit renewed permits to their employer, they’ll be fired from their jobs,” she said.

— Legislation to protect so-called “DREAMers” has become wrapped up in the extension of government funding past a Friday deadline. Talks on Wednesday offered few glimmers of what might happen with DACA, POLITICO’s Heather Caygle, Seung Min Kim and Elana Schor report.

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SENATORS TO HEAR WAYS TO SIMPLIFY STUDENT AID: The Senate education committee is getting back to work on rewriting the federal law governing higher education with a hearing this morning on ways to simplify student aid. Senators will hear from a panel of experts about "proposals to simplify the federal financial aid system to make it easier and more transparent for students," per the hearing announcement. The Senate has yet to lay out its proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, and this morning’s hearing could offer some clues as to what senators may end up pushing.

— Simplifying student aid — including potentially reducing the number of federal loans and grants and shortening the application for aid — is thought to be the lowest-hanging fruit as Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act for the first time in a decade. Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the committee, has said he supports creating a single loan program and a single grant program. There’s general agreement that especially the application for federal aid can be made easier for students to understand and fill out, another of Alexander’s priorities.

— Alexander plans to say that “My focus during this reauthorization will be to make it simpler and easier for students to apply for federal aid and to pay their loans back,” according to prepared remarks. Alexander will also say he wants to make it “easier for college administrators to cut through the jungle of unnecessary red tape and encourage innovation; help ensure students are earning degrees worthy of their time and money; and help colleges keep students safe from sexual assault on campus.”

— But Democrats are likely to push back on any proposals that would include reducing federal student aid in any way. The House education committee last month approved a reauthorization bill ( H.R. 4508 (115) that, among other things, would eliminate a handful of grant programs. That plan has been blasted by Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

— “I hope we can all agree that the purpose of our financial aid programs is to help open the doors of opportunity and higher education for students who feel those doors have been shut,” Murray plans to say this morning, according to prepared remarks. “We must acknowledge that simplification cannot mean elimination of aid — especially as college costs continue to rise. We should be reducing the barriers facing students at every stage of financial aid: before they apply, while they are enrolled, and after graduation.”

— The committee will hear from: Matthew Chingos, director of the Urban Institute’s Education Policy Program; Joanna Darcus from the National Consumer Law Center; Susan Dynarski, professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Michigan; Laura Keane, chief policy officer at UAspire; and Russell Lowery-Hart, president of Amarillo College. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. Watch a livestream here.

— Also of note: The committee is likely to hear that it should consider setting standards for financial aid award letters that colleges send to students. The D.C. think tank New America is out this morning with an analysis it conducted in partnership with UAspire of thousands of award letters from hundreds of colleges. According to the analysis, a third of the letters studied included information on the award offer — the loans and grants — but nothing about how much the school costs to attend. Many others weren’t clear about how much of the award was grants or scholarships and how much was loans, which would have to be repaid. “These practices make it hard to decipher how much college will cost and how they will pay for it, much less compare offers,” the analysis, by Rachel Fishman, says. Read it in full here.

DEVOS HEADLINES ‘NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK’ RALLY ON THE HILL: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos takes to Capitol Hill today to push for the expansion of school choice options. The secretary is scheduled to deliver a speech before a crowd of students, parents, lawmakers and school choice advocates gathering to commemorate National School Choice Week. The rally is part of a concerted nationwide initiative that advocates for the expansion of school choice, marked by students toting yellow scarves.

— Also delivering remarks during the rally are House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — both vocal advocates of charter schools and school vouchers. The rally was organized by Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who together co-chair the Congressional School Choice Caucus. The event starts at 9:30 a.m.

CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD DOESN’T EXPECT BIG CHANGES TO ESSA PLAN: Federal education officials raised a number of red flags about California’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan last month. But the state Board of Education isn’t expected to make any major changes, EdSource reports. The state board this week mostly adopted wording revisions and elaboration to provide more context for federal officials. And California may not find common ground with the Education Department on several issues, like lumping together the test results of English learners who have been reclassified as proficient in English with the test scores of other English learners — which federal officials noted the law prohibits. More.

EDUCATION SHUTDOWN PLAN: As Congress gears up for a vote to fund the government — one tied in part to contentious immigration issues (see above) — the Education Department has refreshed its plan of action should things go south. Just 248 of the department’s 3,686 full-time employees would be exempted from the furlough through the first four weeks of a presumed government shutdown, according to the agency’s contingency plan filed with the Office of Management and Budget. That number includes those holding Senate-confirmed positions; those responsible for “the protection of life and property”; and people essential to the dispensing of financial aid, payroll and similar obligations. Read the contingency plan.

CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH STATE IN SCHOOL FUNDING CASE: Connecticut’s high court ruled Wednesday that the state’s funding of its educational system satisfies its obligation under the constitution, overturning a lower court decision that found the state was "defaulting” on its duty. The case, Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding vs. Rell, was first brought 11 years ago by a group of parents, students and teachers.

— The ruling deals an ideological blow to those looking to the courts to correct inadequate or inequitable school funding. "We are highly sympathetic to the plight of these struggling students," the justices wrote. “It is not the function of the courts, however, to create educational policy or to attempt by judicial fiat to eliminate all of the societal deficiencies that continue to frustrate the state’s educational efforts. Rather, the function of the courts is to determine whether the narrow and specific criteria for a minimally adequate educational system under our state constitution have been satisfied." More.

ICYMI: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NAMING ALL SCHOOLS FACING CIVIL RIGHTS PROBES: The Education Department will now publish an online database of all active civil rights investigations, Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill said. The new database will take the place of a controversial list of colleges and universities under investigation for allegedly mishandled claims of sexual violence, which the Education Department updated each week and gave out upon request. The administration has long hinted that it might stop distributing that list, which acting civil rights chief Candice Jackson called a "list of shame."

— The new database, which includes all active civil rights cases and not just sexual violence cases, will be updated monthly. It includes the name of the institution, the state in which it is located, the institution type, the dates the specific investigations were initiated, the statute alleged to have been violated and the type of discrimination under investigation. Find it here.

REPORT ROLL CALL

— A new report from the National School Boards Association argues that poverty, isolation and inequity among rural students are worsened by the lack of attention to the unique needs of this population.

SYLLABUS

— Lawmakers urge $100B to build and renovate schools: POLITICO Pro.

— Ithaca College president was convicted of sexual abuse in 2001: The Ithacan.

— Nebraska proposal dealing with campus sexual assault could run afoul of federal rules: The Lincoln Journal Star.

— ACLU sues Delaware over school funding: Delaware Public Media.

— Remote districts struggle with connectivity: Medium.

— Milwaukee Public Schools enters into agreement with Education Department over disciplining of black students: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

— KIPP eyes Miami amid local concerns: WLRN.

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