Biden-Harris wins for educators and students

The Biden Administration launches the SAVE Plan, an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size—not their loan balance. Fixes to the IDR plan automatically discharged $39 billion in debt held by 804,000 borrowers, simply by correctly re-calculating their past payment histories.

The combined departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services announced an important step in addressing the nation’s mental health crisis. New rules for mental health parity will better ensure that people seeking coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care can access treatment as easily as people seeking coverage for medical treatments.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released new guidance to clarify rules, reduce administrative burdens for states and schools, and expand access to Medicaid-funded health care services in schools, including behavioral health services. It also announced funding to 35 states to help hire and train more than more than 14,000 new school-based mental health professionals, another step in implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

In recognition of President Pringle’s leadership, President Biden appointed her to the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans. The commission helps develop, implement, and coordinate educational programs and initiatives for the Department of Education. The commission also provides recommendations to the President and Secretary of Education on matters pertaining to the educational equity and economic opportunity for the Black community.

On Dec. 29, President Biden signed into law a year-end funding bill that includes provisions to help educators, students, and families. It includes the Electoral Count Act, which ensures that the electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect the people’s vote in each state. The funding bill also includes the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which expands protections for pregnant workers by creating a legal obligation for most employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers.

The Biden administration announced support for universal healthy school meals for all children as a primary goal ahead of their Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. By supporting free healthy school meals for all students, President Biden has taken a significant step toward ending childhood hunger in this country. The White House has committed to working with Congress to expand access to free school meals for 9 million more children by 2032.

In recognition of sacrifices and efforts to protect the health of all Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Labor (DOL) inducted Essential Workers of the Pandemic into the U.S. Labor Hall of Honor. Those inducted include educators like Andrea Beeman, a special education paraeducator from Maple Heights, Ohio. Beeman spoke at the event and received a Hall of Honor plaque on behalf of all ESPs. As she put it in her remarks, “Education support professionals are some of the most critical members of our education community. Our unique position in the classrooms, in the hallways, on school grounds, and beyond allows us to see the needs of our students and meet those needs in every way we possibly can.”

After many months of educator engagement and advocacy urging the Biden administration to do everything possible to address the educator shortage, the White House announced an effort to address the educator shortage through Registered Apprenticeship Programs. This plan increases pathways for those who would like to enter the teaching profession, commits to technical assistance opportunities through the Department of Labor, and elevates education to a priority labor sector. The plan also calls for states to ensure teachers are paid a livable and competitive wage, and identifies avenues by which they can do this.

Vice President Harris thanked educators for their partnership, praised their commitment to social justice, and asked them to keep moving the nation forward in an electrifying “call-to-action” address at the NEA Representative Assembly on July 5. “Again and again, you have been champions of social justice… You are not only essential to our children’s future,” Harris said, “you, I believe, are essential to the future of our democracy.”

On the same day that NEA members celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX—the landmark legislation that protects and provides equal access and treatment for millions of girls and women—the Biden administration announced a proposed rule to help fulfill the promise of Title IX and guide schools and colleges in implementing its requirements. The proposed rule will help ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn—regardless of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

One of the nation’s brightest legal minds, Judge Jackson is the daughter of two public school teachers, and a public high school graduate. She is a top graduate from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and has decades of judicial and public service experience, including eight years as a judge on the D.C. District Court and nearly a year on the D.C. Circuit Court, the most powerful appellate court in the country.

This legislation represents a historic investment in roads and bridges, along with broadband funding. Importantly, it also extends the Secure Rural Schools Act, works to eliminate lead pipes in schools and childcare facilities, and invests in electrifying school buses to reduce emissions. 

On his first day in office, President Biden signed an Executive Order directing all federal agencies to prioritize and allocate resources to advance equity. The order also establishes a high-level interagency data working group to collect the data necessary to advance equity, and it revokes Trump’s order to prohibit diversity training and the creation of a 1776 Commission.

President Biden also issued an executive order extending collective bargaining rights to workers in Department of Defense schools represented by the Federal Education Association, an NEA affiliate.