Dreamer Bill Advances to the House Floor This week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, marking the first time since 2013 that legislation for Dreamers has advanced. The bill provides a pathway to citizenship for nearly 2.7 million Dreamers (those brought to the U.S. as minors), Deferred Action…
By Amanda Menas and Amanda Litvinov The conversation about public education is changing in statehouses across the country. The assumption that schools must operate in austerity—and that struggling schools should be punished—no longer prevails. After more than a decade of deep education cuts and lagging teacher salaries, a renewed commitment to public schools is emerging.…
By Tim Walker The #RedforEd movement played a huge role in motivating voters to go to the polls and support pro-public education candidates in the 2018 mid-terms. With hundreds of new lawmakers ensconced in statehouses across the country, educators and their allies in 2019 transferred their energies from helping candidates get elected to making sure…
House Passes the Equality Act, Paves the Way for Federal LGBTQ Protections The House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, H.R. 5, last week,voting to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, and other laws. Fewer than half the states have fully…
Key decisions about education funding are made using census data. The accuracy of the 2020 count is imperiled, but a coalition that includes NEA is fighting back.