Federal Updates

AESA and AASA are joining forces to collect stories and anecdotes about E-Rate usage in ESAs and schools nationwide. This effort is critical to supporting the amicus brief for the upcoming Supreme Court case on E-Rate. 

As you may recall–the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) in July, incorporating two major student and child privacy bills–the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). The House Energy & Commerce Committee passed different versions of KOSA and COPPA 2.0 in September, leaving questions about how these bills would proceed.

As we head into the new year, new Congress and new administration, we are also bracing for a significant case impacting education that will be before the Supreme Court in its 2025 term. And its all about E-Rate.

On November 14, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a new resource, Frequently Asked Privacy-Related Questions About Filing a Complaint with OCR.

On November 14, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a new resource, Frequently Asked Privacy-Related Questions About Filing a Complaint with OCR.

Back to Federal Updates Written by Tara Thomas, AESA Policy Analyst November 12th was an exciting night for Congress as each chamber moved bills important to AESA and educators across the country. Although they are not quite past the finish line, these actions are very promising. We will continue to update members with new actions.…

Back to Federal Updates The Regional Educational Lab Program will have representation at the AESA Conference next month. In the meantime, they wanted to share a new literacy-focused resource just released: A Practitioner’s Guide to Improving Literacy Outcomes for Students by Using Evidence to Strengthen Programs and Practices. This resource builds on REL Southeast’s Literacy Roadmap, and was developed to…

Written by Sasha Pudelski, Director, Advocacy at AASA, The School Superintendents Association and member of the AESA advocacy team Many soundbites this week have highlighted the expressed desire by President Trump to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Could this happen? Is this a serious proposal? At this time AESA urges educational leaders to maintain…

Written by Sasha Pudelski, Director, Advocacy at AASA, The School Superintendents Association and member of the AESA advocacy team Anticipated funding and policy issues coming out of the 2024 election and what to watch for as a public school educator. While the election results are still being distilled and we do not know with certainty…

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule creating the first-ever national requirement to test for lead in schools that rely on water from public utilities. The regulation, called the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, mandates that water systems screen all elementary and child-care facilities, where those who are the most vulnerable to lead’s effects…