Transcripts For CSPAN Education 20240703

Subcommittee. He request for the department before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee. He was also asked about the delayed rollout of the fast application for School Financial aid and pulling federal funding on that from federal universities that failed to respond to antisemitic acts from students. He also talked about the revisions to title ix, which provides new protections for transgender students the hearing runs just under one hour and a half. The appropriations Sub Committee on labor, health and human services, education, and related agencies will come to order. We will start by recognizing myself for an Opening Statement, followed by Ranking Member senator capito, before turning to you, secretary cardona, for your testimony. Good morning. Today, we are having a hearing on the by the year 2025 budget request for the department of education, and im happy to welcome secretary cardonas to our subcommittee once again. Mr. Secretary, im looking forward to working in a bipartisan manner again this year with senator capito to help develop an lhhs bill that can pass the senate, past the house, and be signed into law by the president. We did our job last year, but House Republicans insisted on partisan policy writers and accordion cuts to essential programs that put our children and young people up for success, led to repeated showdowns and crs. That culminated in passing the final appropriations bill in march that we should have passed months before. That kind of payoff does nothing to help ensure our federal resources are used most effectively to serve the people we represent. It causes federal agencies to waste time and money instead of working to ensure every dollar we appropriate serves our constituents. We cannot play politics for our childrens future. We need to do better, and mr. Secretary, this budget is a good first step in that direction. It outlines important investments that are necessary to ensure that all students receive the education and support they need to fulfill their potential and move our nation forward. Mr. Secretary, you are aware of the opportunities and challenges across the education spectrum. Childcare and preschool are often unaffordable or simply unavailable. There are efforts by lawmakers to ban books from classroom shelves. We are seeing young kids getting bullied and discriminated against in schools and on social media, just because of who they are. Postsecondary education costs too much for too many families, and leaves some students saddled with insurmountable debt. Career and Technical Education is not as widely available as it should be, and employers are often unable to find the workers with the skills they need for available jobs. These are some of the concerns i hear across wisconsin. All said, we have some challenges. Mr. Secretary, the investments proposed in the president was the budget in the president s budget what help tackle some of these issues headon. There is so much we need to do to improve the quality and affordability of secondary education. The president s budget request includes investments in the cornerstone of our Financial Aid system, the pell Grant Program. I look forward to working with you to protect and sustain the pell Grant Program, so it can continue to provide this critical assistance to millions of students around this country. I am pleased the budget request supports students, parents, and activities to help students complete a post secondary education to further their career. A growing number of post secondary students are nontraditional students, and our colleges need to adapt to help ensure that they can succeed. The president s budget request for the childcare access means parents in School Program would help parents from low income backgrounds afford childcare, so that they can attend postsecondary education. Additional proposed investments in the post secondary Student Success program was support evidencebased activities to improve postsecondary persistent and completion rates, to gillooly among nontraditional students. The budget also rightly invests in our nations hbcus, minority serving as additions, and tribal colleges. I have seen firsthand the important Educational Opportunities tribal colleges provides to native students, in wisconsin, and know how important it is that we continue to invest in tribal colleges, hbcus, and msis, including, vitally, their research infrastructure. This budget also proposes additional investments for administering federal student Financial Aid program. This year, a very challenging rollout of the new simplified fafsa has upended the Financial Aid application process around the country, leading to much uncertainty for students and their families. Im deeply concerned about loan fafsa completion rates, particularly given the promise of fafsa signification, to make it easier for students to apply and ultimately help students more students pursue post secondary education. I know you and your staff are working hard to fix these issues, but i cannot emphasize enough how important it is that we get this right. Accessing this aid can mean the difference between someone being able to go to college or not. I am committed to working with you to correct any ongoing issues and improve completion rates of the fafsa this year. At the same time, we also need to be working to ensure that next years fafsa is available on time this fall and rolled out smoothly to students and their families. Mr. Secretary, because not every student will choose a fouryear pathway, i know you share my interest and passion in career and Technical Education and the Important Role that highquality cte can play in preparing students for both college and for careers. The budgets proposed increase in cte will help states, school district, and colleges improve the quality of cte programs and better ensure cte programs educate students for jobs of the future. Mr. Secretary, im also pleased to see that this budget continue support for investments in key federal elementary and secondary programs, building on the increases we have been able to provide in recent years. The budget doubled down on our commitment to title i a programs to provide additional funding to schools serving schools from low income families. And it invests in the i. D. E. A. State grant, additional cost of Meeting Needs of students with disabilities. I am pleased that your budget also proposes extra investments for schoolbased Mental Health programs that will increase access to support students in need. The budget also proposes increased funding for the full Services Community schools program, which can also increase access to needed Mental Health programs. While wisconsin marked 2023 as the year of Mental Health, we know that much work needs to be done to address the significant Mental Health challenges facing too many of our youth. A few alarming statistics from wisconsins office of childrens Mental Health 2023 annual report makes that clear. The report indicates that 34 of High School Students reported feeling sad or hopeless. 18 of teens reported seriously considering suicide, and 48 of lgbtq youth reported seriously considering suicide. Each indicator is going in the wrong direction. National reporting tells the same tragic story. We need to do more to ensure that all students receive the support they need to succeed. Finally, i would be remiss if i did not address the ongoing protests on College Campuses across the United States, including in my home state of wisconsin. Peacefully protesting is a fundamental right that all people in this country are entitled to. It is an important tool for people to have their voices heard and one i support, however, when these protests turn to threats, intimidation, violence, and in recent cases, antisemitism, they must be called out and condemned in no uncertain terms. Hate has no place in any Educational Institution in america, full stop. Im glad to see that the president s Budget Health address this headon and increases funding for educations office of civil rights. Every student from Early Childhood education to our College Campuses deserve a safe place to learn. Free from hate, bullying, or discrimination. This is a fundamental idea that i am committed to through and through. A key tool in helping make that a reality for Educational Institutions receiving federal assistance is the office of civilrights. In recent months, some have called for increased efforts to root out antisemitism in Educational Institutions, which i fully agree we must do, but they have been paradoxically called for cutting of funding for the very office that leads that work. To help eliminate all forms of discrimination, we have to put our money where our mouth is. We need to provide oci, the office for civil rights, with the Additional Resources it needs, to get the job done. In a moment, i will turn it over to Ranking Member capito for her remarks. Following senator capitals Opening Statements, we will hear from you, secretary cardonas, and after that, senators will each have five minutes four rounds of questions. I will now turn it over for Ranking Member senator capital. Sen. Senator capito. Sen. Capito senator collins here, senator murray, leading the charge for us, and while i regret that it was so very delayed, last Months Congress did pass the final bipartisan spending bills for 202014 we were able to successfully complete the 2024 process, because everyone worked together to find Common Ground. Fiscal year 2025 is likely to face similar if not greater challenges, but im hopeful that we will once again be able to come together and produce a bipartisan 20 25 labor bill that ties is programs and helps provide the highquality education for all. While the budget proposes to continue spending money on programs and activities that we simply cannot afford can i appreciate the somewhat tempered approach this year compared to the previous budget. The physical response ability act continues to be the law of the land and will govern what is possible for moving forward, just like last year. We are going to have to make some tough choices. So i am concerned that this budget attends to go around the fra, the fiscal responsibility act, by proposing 140 billion in new, mandatory spending for programs that this country simply cannot afford and that the congress has can stately rejected. Expensive new federal programs like free college are illadvised and unlikely to be considered. Pandemic era spending is over, and we need to get down to business. The challenges facing k12, and as a former educator, a lifelong educator, i should say, facing k12 education are downright alarming for this current generation of our students we are facing a crisis of chronic absenteeism and failing test scores were falling test scores in this country. The number of kids counted as chronically absent, missing at least 10 of school days each year is double what it was before the pandemic. In West Virginia, my home state, 28 of the children in School Missed more than 18 days of school last school year. That is almost a month of school. This isnt ok, and when kids dont go to school, they dont learn, they dont thrive, and they dont grow, not just academically but also socially. I know you share this concern, and i hope the department will continue to give states and districts support they need to help get kids back into the classroom. Federal education spending should support states and policies that afford the greatest opportunity for kids to learn and achieve academically. Formula Grant Funding like title i, i. D. E. A. , career and Technical Education grants for them as close as we can to the teachers, parents, and also provide the crucial flexibility local communities need to best meet the needs of their students, so im pleased that the Budget Priority does that with these essential programs however, your budget also proposes to slash other funding intending to help Public Schools succeed. For instance, the charter School Program. Secretary cardonas, this is your fourth year in front of the committee, so it should not be a surprise to you that a cut to Charter School spending is not go well in a bipartisan environment. False claims of declining demand for the program when really the department was the own actions are to blame. The department was the imposition of burness in the burdensome rules are the reason. Following the pandemic, Charter School enrollment increased. I think that is a pretty clear illustration of increased demand. Federal student aid, yet the office of federal student aid already received more than 2 billion a year, and it is not clear what the American Students are getting and people are getting for their investment. I am particularly concerned by the disastrous rollout of the new fafsa for 2025 school year. You know, i dont normally come before folks who are doing the best they can do in the jobs they are in, but this just got me totally undone, because it has got everybody in my state and across the nation just appalled at how this could be handled so ineptly. Congress passed the fafsa simplification act to simplify and improve the process of applying for federal student aid in december of 2020, more than three years ago, yet this administrations implementation of the law has not made things better for students or administrators. It is not an understatement to say this has been an unmitigated disaster calls by an inexcusable failure of leadership. Implementation of this bipartisan congressional priority should have been a top priority for the Biden Administration. They took a long time to pass it. We can get Lamar Alexander up here to tell us how long. The deadline to update the fafsa should come as no surprise Lamar Alexander august the the administration and asked you to get blueprints that are prioritizing this important work the Political Leadership at the department of ed chose to spend time, resources and personnel to advance the administrations priorities of an canceling student debt. To me that is indefensible. I have spoke with so many West Virginians this past summer months who were angry about the departments misplaced priorities and feel discouraged about the future because of the bungled fafsa implementation period fafsa completions are down 36 nationally, compared to this time last year. In my home state of West Virginia the number of High School Students that have completed fafsa is down almost 40 compared to this time last year. For nontraditional aid students in West Virginia, students age 255 and up, ask a completion rates are down 35 . Maybe students put off post education to work or to care for a family member. That because of this mess theyre having to delay their goal furthering their education. Some students may never end up in raleigh a post secondary education because the hurdles to complete the fafsa are just too high. And many of those have managed to overcome the difficulties and submit their fafsa are still left in the dark about what Financial Aid are eligible for in the fall. This is obvious a huge issue for students and their families. Its a challenge for colleges and universities because of delays and challenges concerning the rollout of the new nasa, 482 million is severely jeopardizing College Access and affordability for those students, and many of whom would be the first in their family to go to college. Tomorrow is may 1, traditionally known as College Decision day. In a typical year, High School Graduates across america would be finalizing their decisions of which college or university to attend, but this year, your Department Just yesterday sent college is the correct information they need to process those aid awards. Students are still unable to make plans and informed financial decisions. It is likely to be one of the most expensive and consequential choices that they will make in their lives. I agree with your statement that theres nothing more important right now at the department of ed, and i hope moving forward you will be singularly focused on addressing outstanding issues and ensuring that these grounds are not repeated these problems are not repeated in the 20252026 fafsa cycle our students do deserve better. On that note, im concerned with all the regulations coming out of the department right now are expected to be coming in the new and eastern alone forgiveness, title ix to cast management rules that would increase the cost of educational material for our students. I urge you to abandon these efforts. Finally, i would ask you to take action to protect our jewish students and restore order on College Campuses across america. Discrimination based on National Origins violate title vi of the Civil Rights Act, and your department is required to enforce the law. No student should have to fear for their safety while attending school. Lastly, 26 of my republican colleagues and i sent you a letter on this topic, and i look forward to your response to mr. Secretary, we have a lot of important issues to discuss today, so i want to thank you so much for being with us. Chair baldwin i see we are joint by the vice chair of the full committee. Senator come if you would like to make an Opening Statement, you are recognized. Sen. Collins thank you, madam chair. Senator capito has raised many of issues, as has the chair, but i have to tell you, secretary cardona, how disappointed i am in your leadership. What happened with the fafsa system is simply inexcusable and inexplicable. And as our Ranking Member, senator capito, has said, the department had three years to implement the revisions and then another year to simplify the revisions to the federal Financial Aid applications. And i have heard from countless families, students, Financial Aid counselors, administrators, who have expressed their extreme frustration with the system, and i believe that apartment owes them an apology. This is inexcusable this was not something that was dropped on the department at the last moment, it goes back four years, so there was plenty of time to get this right, and the fact is that students in my state have been up in the air about what do they do . They dont know what package in the system they are going to receive, and as senator capito points out, may 1 is usually decision day, yet the college is just got the information they needed yesterday. This is just inexcusable. I am also extremely concerned about the treatment of some jewish students and faculty on far too many of our College Campuses, as has been pointed out under the civil rights law, the department has the authority to act on the complaints, and there are more than 100 investigations that have been filed since october 7 of last year. Every day we hear from jewish students who tell me that they are frightened on campus. I just cannot believe the rise of the antisemitism on our College Campuses. That is not to say that people dont have the right to peacefully protest. They do. But that is not what is happening in many areas. Im very concerned about the budget for Rural Education. In maine, the majority of our schools are small and rural, which is why back in 2002, i coauthored the Rural Education achievement program, known as r. E. A. P. The Administration Budget level fund actually, i did not level funded, that would be ok. Instead, the apartment is going back to fiscal year 2023 level. And finally, although there are so many other issues that i would love to have in my Opening Statement, including the trios program, which is a wonderful program, and i am pleased there is an increase there, i. D. E. A. , we need to start getting those numbers up. Put a concern that i have is the return to a single investigator model under your new title ix regulations, when that model has been ruled by multiple courts as unlawful. So i just dont understand why the department would ignore those Court Rulings that go back to a model that has been so heavily criticized. Again, i think there are a lot of issues to cover today, and i very much appreciate the opportunity to touch on some of them. Thank you. Chair baldwin thank you, senator collins. Our witness today is miguel cardona, the secretary of the department of education. Secretary cardona, thank you for joining us. You will have five minutes for your opening remarks, and you may begin. Sec. Cardona thank you. Thank you, chair baldwin, Ranking Member capito, and vice chair collins. And distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on president bidens fiscal year 2025 budget request for the United States department of education to thank you for your leadership and can you partnership it and proud of how i Work Together in a bipartisan fashion to raise the bar for american education. Defending Public Education instead of defunding it, and recognizing that investing in education is investing in a Better Future for all of us. It is not only a priority at the education but what we are hearing from directly from parents and others all over this country, in red and blue states alike him about where we have Common Ground when it comes to our hopes for our children. This budget is about making responsible choices to to invest in the foundation of American Opportunity and raise the bar for our nations future. About the sustaining recovery after the end of the pandemic and calculated investments to accelerate learning and success at a crucial time for our students to regain lost ground. While also adhering to the bipartisan fiscal responsibilities act. It is about investing in a stronger future for all americans, by boosting funding to close achievement gaps and low income communities through title i, support for students with disabilities through i. D. E. A. , and we came to recruit and develop great teachers. It is about investing in safer schools and the Mental Health of our students by making available more School Counselors and Mental Health professionals in more fullservice Community Schools. It is about getting more young people access to the American Dream by building more pathways to rewarding careers and Opening Doors to Higher Education for all students, by improving retention and completion including through Free Community college and increased student support. Making these investments in our nation was a future while fully honoring the caps under the bipartisan agreement to reduce the deficit. Make no mistake, when we look beyond the headlines and all the noise, there is so much Common Ground in our country about what matters for our students. Whether it is getting our students to read by third grade, providing Mental Health support in the midst of a youth Mental Health crisis. Opening career and College Pathways so more students have auctions, so rewarding lives and careers, making Higher Education more portable for those who choose that path. I know we are going to continue to Work Together to build on that Common Ground. Prioritizing results over rhetoric. We can raise the bar for our nation together, and i look forward to working with you together to do so. Thank you. Chair baldwin we are now going to begin our rounds of fiveminute questioning, and i will start that out. Secretary cardona, like many of my colleagues, i am troubled by the ongoing fafsa implementation issues, and im also deeply concerned that the number of our High School Seniors who have fully completed their fafsa is down nearly 30 from last year. And even lower among students in low income schools. I know that your staff is working hard to fix this, but as i said earlier, the department has to get this right and fast. Can you briefly describe what you and your staff are doing right now to get fafsa back on track, including completion rates this year, so students dont lose access to Financial Aid . Sec. Cardona yes. Thank you, senator. I can assure you this is an issue i take seriously, very personally, and i acknowledge the frustration and challenges that families and schools are facing. 30 years ago when i was ready to make decisions about Higher Education, i never filled out the fafsa. I was probably eligible, but it was such a big task that i was intimidated by it, and i did not want to put the pressure on my family to go through that process. It felt to difficulty for far too long in this country, too many students who have potential have missed out on federal aid dollars to achieve their dreams, so i recognize the frustration and the challenge. The problem has not been touched in 40 years. The rollout of a better fafsa has been riddled with delays and challenges, and it has been something that we prioritized at the department of education. We are doing everything everyday to make it right. We are holding fafsa clinics, we are providing daily communication to colleges, we have sent that information out over mother go to school, we are on the phone with Financial Aid directors, hundreds of webinars, different languages, helping with clinics for families. If you visit ed. Gov, theres a spot where you can see better resources for a better fafsa. Just yesterday, i was on the call with national communitybased organizations with clinics to make sure they are connecting the dots with schools, and we are providing daytoday support to educate parents, students, based on what we are hearing. We recognize this and we are doing everything in our power to make sure we are providing more opportunities for students to fill out the better fafsa. At the end of the day, we are expecting the better fafsa can open the doors to an additional 600,000 students for Higher Education for that is a huge difference for the potential of our country and the potential of our students. Chair baldwin thank you for that answer. While we are still working on fafsa this cycle, we know that next year is right around the corner, and students cannot bear another year of delays. So can you commit to an ontime launch for the 20252026 fafsa by october 1 of this year . And will you commit that colleges will get all the data that they need from the fafsa as soon as the fafsa is launched . Sec. Cardona thank you. Yes. This is something we have been focusing on, and i commit to make sure that we are moving all of our resources to make sure that we adhere to the timeline and do everything in our power to make sure that not only we are staying true to the timeline but also communicate with parents, students and schools. Sec. Cardona ok, so chair baldwin ok, so will you be able to reach the october 1 deadline . Sec. Cardona that is our expectation. Chair baldwin ok. Mr. Secretary, i appreciate the work of the department and administration on increasing access to Mental Health services for children and youth and related proposals in the president s budget. While you have made some progress, while we have made some progress, certainly more needs to be done to overcome challenges that i hear about in wisconsin, frankly, every day. What i hear about is getting kids the support they need, and im also aware of the interest back home and they departments schoolbased Mental Health program, funded out of the School Safety National Activities program. We provided 216 million in the budget we just past and directed the department to use any funds not needed for current activities for new schoolbased Mental Health programs. Do i have your commitment to use every available dollar from the School Safety National Activities program for new Mental Health grants, as we discussed . Sec. Cardona yes. We are committed to and hearing to that. Chair baldwin thank you. Can you describe how this budget request would expand and improve Mentalhealth Services for kids . Sec. Cardona absolutely. I have to tell you one of the things i feel very strongly about as an educator who has had experience them even before the pandemic, addressing Mental Health needs in our schools, that the pandemic that is the pandemic requires us to go back, we are failing our students. We are in a Mental Health crisis, and we have emergency room models of Mental Health support, meaning after the trauma. We are committed to ensuring funding and supports for schools are available, to make sure schools have the proactive support they need. I have to say, thanks to the bipartisan saver communities act , we have invested already over 500 million in Mental Health services for k12 we are committed to provide funding for our Budget Proposal that is geared toward fullservice Community Schools, will also bring in Community Providers to help students and families with Mental Health needs. Theres a 40 million grant for k12 and health services. What we are seeing is some of it is proactive, just helping students understand how they are feeling and to mitigate emotions, and we are also seeing an increase in support providers. There has been at 40 increase in School Social workers pay that is significant, given where we are as a country. We have seen an increase of 25 Percent School nurses, which is, again, something that i know from the families who are benefiting from that. We are committed to keeping that trajectory moving, recognizing that a strong system of Mental Health supports for students is a foundation for academic rest and students progress and students reaching their potential. Chair baldwin thank you. Senator capito. Sen. Capito i mentioned in my Opening Statement that title vi of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on race, color, National Origins, in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. No student should feel unsafe on their campus, yet just last week, Columbia University had to move classes online, and jewish students were told by a campus rabbi to go home, because it was no longer safe for them on their campus. Late last night, protesters took over Hamilton Hall on campus, and the university is locked down today, with access limited to only residential students, whoever is left for there i imagine some parents have said, you must leave and essential personnel to this is absolutely uncivil. Secretary cardona, do you believe what is happening at columbia and other colleges and universities across the country is ok . Sec. Cardona absolutely not. I think what is happening on our campuses is abhorrent. Hate has no place on our campuses, and im very concerned with the reports of antisemitism. I have spoken with jewish students who have fear going to class as a result of some of the harassment they are facing on campuses. It is on acceptable, and we are committed at the department of education to adhering to title vi enforcement. We have 137 open cases. We take those very seriously. We have increased the number of communications to College Campuses to make sure they have what they need, in terms of the law and best practices on how to make sure they are protecting students. As an educator, lifelong educator, protecting students is a number one responsibility paired we take that seriously. Antisemitism we have seen on campus is unacceptable. Sen. Capito unacceptable, we agree. You have 136 cases, you said . How long does this take . By the time he goes through the system, quite frankly, it will be all over or out of the system. Thats good, im glad youre doing that, but you have more immediate means that your disposal, for instance, removing federal funds from institutions that get federal funds, which i imagine most all of them well, they all do. If they are in violation of title vi. Are you intending to do that . Sec. Cardona you are absolutely right. Investigating is the enforcement part of it, but we do have on our website, ed. Gov, reporting Campus Safety with guidance and regulation around how to do that. This is why in our budget we are proposing a 22 million increase to increase the number of investigators, so we can move on those investigations that are open. Ultimately come if a school refuses to comply with title vi, yes, we would remove federal dollars. Sen. Capito well, a school can say they will abide by title vi, but they are not doing anything. I would commend to you our former member of the senate come another president at the university of florida, he is not taking a light touch here. He is saying for many days we have patiently told protesters, many of them are outsiders them if they are able to trespassers. This is not complicated. The university of florida is not a daycare commend we do not treat testers like children. They know the rules, they break the rules, they will face the consequences. I would recommend to put this on the front of your page on the best way to deal with antisemitism on campus. Sec. Cardona we do have a statement that i stated after the campus protest. We make it very clear that be an unsafe on campus is not going to be tolerated, and that we do not condone and you definitely reject any calls for genocide or any calls for any antisemitism on campus. That is something i have been pretty adamant about, even before october 7. Sen. Capito do you have people at columbia right now on the scene to see what is going on they are . Do you have a staff to watch . Sec. Cardona i do not have staff. Sen. Capito does the Civil Rights Office halfstaff . Sec. Cardona i do not have staff at the Columbia University. I should share with you that we do have an open investigation at Columbia University. Sen. Capito right. The data that i used i put up your on a chart, so everyone can see, 36 down nationally. In West Virginia, down 40 . I can tell you sarah tagger, who heads up our Higher Education, has been a wonderful resource for me on data but also trying to help us find a way to get this going. This is disturbing as well get i talk to someone who worked in career and technical, has more adult students, they are totally confused. So students who are, among West Virginia students age 25 and up, down 25 . You said we are going to get 600,000 more students because of the simplification. Youve lost all these students this year. Think about that in terms of what that does going forward. Chances are, for the next four years, though students may not, some of them, maybe the majority of them, you are already going to lose students in that year, and maybe life gets in the way and i decide i cant move forward on this, im not even the point to fill this out. It took too long. I dont understand it. Weve got to be more aggressive your client i honestly get tired. Im on the appropriations committee, it is seems like all we ever hear is i need more money for staff. This could have been done a lot better. From what you said today, we should have been hearing that a year ago, so we could have been prepared for where we are, and im sure you feel the same way, that you would have liked to have that conversation a year ago. Is there anyway, i mean, you know, senator collins asked for an apology. Have you said, we know weve really screwed this up, and we need to make this better not just for the students but for the institutions as well. Sec. Cardona yes. Absolutely. Ive spoken with students and families. We have worked to return 28 billion the repayment. We changed services into better fafsa. Sen. Capito you also worked on for a whole lot of student debt, diverting a lot of resources into this, not focusing on the fundamentals of trying to go to college for the first time. Sec. Cardona i would welcome an opportunity to engage with folks in West Virginia, to share the strategies. And i would love to Work Together with you to make sure West Virginians have access to Higher Education. The form is now about 15 minutes. If a student in West Virginia applies today, by friday, the colleges are going to have the information. We processed over 8. 2 million sen. Capito accurately processing now . That was an issue, too. Sec. Cardona we made those corrections, and we are actively processing information. To be frank with you, ive been hearing students are getting their letters. We are on the same team here, and i look forward to working with you. Chair baldwin senator murphy. Sen. Murphy thank you very much, madam chair. Secretary, good to see you get i want to take a moment to thank members of this committee for the work that they put it now almost two years ago to make the bipartisan Safer Communities act a reality paired we have already referenced it a number of times in this hearing. 13 billion, much of it going to our schools to help build in school Mental Health resources and support services around children in need. But the data, the numbers are really compelling. Since we passed the bipartisan Safer Communities act, we have seen a stunning drop in gun crime in this country. From 2022 to 2020 freedom a 12 reduction in urban gun homicides. That is the biggest one your drop in history to it while we are still collecting information on 2024, it looks like its going to be another massive drop in gun crime in 2024, in the 200 biggest cities in the country, the first three month of this year compared to the first three months of last year, has seen a 20 average drop in crime. That is really something to celebrate. What i want to talk to you, mr. Secretary, about calais concerning development in our schools, that if unaddressed, potentially threatens to interrupt this process, and that is the increasing chronic absenteeism we are seeing their there is a direct line between kids who are chronically out of school and at risk behaviors. And so we want to continue to build on this remarkable success, because the story of this drop in crime is connected to the work we are doing in our schools. You have 1 billion to use for building positive school climate, and that you have a new 8 billion initiative in this budget that come amongst other things, is dedicated to trying to attack chronic absenteeism and increasing safer and welcoming schools. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of reversing this pandemic trend . Sec. Cardona absolutely. Thank you, senator. Throughout my career, whether as a fourthgrade teacher or school principal, we would track the activity of them of our students the absenteeism of our students commit it was clear that those missing school were struggling to get ahead academically. We often refer to absenteeism as a symptom of something greater. So the work we are doing, and this budget reflects this priority that we are making with addressing chronic absenteeism and introducing additional strategies across the country. Because after the pandemic, it has gotten worse. In many states, they are much worse now than they were before the pandemic. We are holding a convening at the white house in a bipartisan fashion may 15 to address chronic absenteeism. We recognize if we do not address absenteeism, other strategies, tutoring, the other things we have is will, will not have the effect it needs to happen we are working with groups, teachers, schools, to make sure it is a message we can get behind paired part of the strategy is also increasing fullservice Community Schools. As i said earlier, tennis is a symptom of something else. Where we have fullservice Community Schools meeting the needs of students and their families, they are more likely to attend school. Sen. Murphy let me ask one additional question. You have a really interesting Grant Program that you have used title viii funds for, and this is fostering a Diverse School funds program. I am supporting giving students a reverse school. Diverse school. If youre in a racially Diverse School, you will be more ready to succeed as an adult. You have data yet to understand how the demonstration of grants are succeeding . Youve made about 10 planning grants in and limitation grants, and if you dont, when will we know . Sec. Cardona sure. As someone who grew up in an environment where i was able to attend Diverse Schools and really learn how to navigate different people from different cultures and understand people from different perspectives and i think that helped me in my career, and i do think all students benefit from that. This is something we do stand behind them and i would be happy to followup with you and have my team followup with you on data to support that, whether through our grant or programs that weve seen across the country. Sen. Murphy i always tell the story commit i will turn it back to you, madam chair, that cat netiquette does not have as many Diverse School as we should. Mary is one of them. The level of engagement from those students, they know what they have, they know how special their experience is, and you feel it when you walk into any of these meriting schools. I appreciate that. Thank you, madam chair. Chair baldwin thank you. Vice chair collins. Sen. Collins thank you, madam chair. Mr. Secretary, i want to ask you a very basic question, and that is, after all the times the department had to implement the bill that congress enacted to simple five the federal Financial Aid forms, why wasnt it ready when it went live . I just dont understand why, given that the department had more than three years, given the fact that congress was very specific on what should be done, no more 100 questions on the form, for example, what happened . Sec. Cardona thank you for that. Senator, i do share the frustration you share. Our kids deserve better, and we are working aroundtheclock the clock to make sure it improves. Weve had delays, we had issues with some of the coding that we had to make changes to, and, you know, it is an overhaul. It is not just a new website, it is an overhaul of a new formula. Required engaging with information differently. So theres no excuse. The students deserve better, and i am committed to making sure the process works, to make sure more students have access to Higher Education, and a fafsa process that encourages families to engage and give students a better opportunity for higher ed. Sen. Collins i worked at a college in maine come at the university of bangor, and i know how critical all federal Financial Aid and other support are for students. In many cases, it makes a difference between whether they go to college or not. And this is particularly true with firstgeneration college students, and back when i worked at hudson, the majority of students were firstgeneration. One reason that i wanted to help Lamar Alexander and others simplify the process is i heard so many complaints about it. And the statistics that senator capito showed you about what is happening in West Virginia im sure could be applied to the state of maine. So the problem is that the ineptitude here has real life consequences. And im curious whether you considered testing the new system with a small group of schools to ensure that it worked before it went live. Sec. Cardona thank you for that, and thank you for sharing that perspective. Im in agreement with you, we have to get it right for our students. The process data involve testing, getting information from colleges. We have been in constant communication with Financial Aid directors across the country, with College President s. Ive been in conversations myself to test out processes, to hear from them one needs adjustments, and we have been adjusting. So i recognize the strain it has put on colleges, Financial Aid offices. They bent over backwards to really meet students needs, and we are appreciative of that and are making decisions moving forward. Sen. Collins i want to turn to the issues of the incidents of antisemitism on far too many of our College Campuses. The Antidefamation League has said that as a country at a whole, that antisemitic incidents are up 360 since october 7, so it is not just our College Campuses. It is a problem nationwide, and a very disturbing one, but you do have the authority to investigate these incidents. And i am curious what specific communication you have had with institutions of Higher Education regarding antisemitism, regarding jewish students not feeling safe, not feeling like they can attend classes. And when did you post any communications on those issues . Sec. Cardona thank you for that. We are in agreement, senator. It is unacceptable. I have spoken to joy students who have shared with me theyve had to take a different route to class or that their parents dont feel safe sending them to school. And while safety and peaceful protests are protected by first minute rights, not when they are attacking tunas on clock campus. Students on campus. The most important thing to be is to make sure students are safe on campus. If you look on ed. Gov, theres a supporting Campus Safety could i repeat it because i want people to look at it. We have over 100 resources and tools that many of them were put up after october 7, but as you mention, this was an issue before october 7. There was a rise in antisemitism before. And ive met with jewish leaders at the department of education. Ive met with students, ive been on College Campuses talking to students, professors, president s who are struggling with it. And ive been on campuses who are doing it well. As recently as this week or late last week, we put out updated information to address issues that College Campuses are facing. It is a utmost importance. I agree with you. We need to do better for our students to make sure they are safe. Sen. Collins and, again, theres a difference between peaceful, legitimate protests and what we are talking about, harassment, intimidation that cannot be allowed. Thank you. Chair baldwin senator manchin. Sen. Manchin thank you, madam chair, and thank you, secretary, for being here. We are very much getting inundated on people concerning the fafsa. I have another problem i have, debt forgiveness. First of all, we have a bill called the smarter debt act, and when people call my office, we give them 50 different variations of taking care of their debt, to get it paid, but work it off to all these smart young people who work in our offices, when they come here, they have a oneyour contract, they get basically repaid. They get paid while they are working, but we also pay their debt commitment. After 10 years, they are totally forgiven. But no one is doing anything. You know how long it took us to find all 50 categories, whether it be in health professions, whether it is in Public Service . There are so many ways Scientific Research, general repayment, everything. There are so many things, but yet we end up giving 620 billion of debt cancellation, has already been implemented, including 270 5 million from president bidens new income driven repayment, and then we are talking about doing another 750 million. We are talking about giving more money away that we ever did on education. Makes no sense to me at all, and you have done nothing at the department of education showing me how i can take this burden off of me why i still get paid and im still conserving to society. We have no requirements on Financial Literacy. When a student goes into college, please correct me if im wrong, they will go there and say, what is your familys income . They will say well, you can borrow up to 12,000 with your family income. They might not on they might only need six thousand dollars, but it will take all 12,000. They will take it because they think it is free money, but when it comes time to pay the piper come and hit them hard, because we do not require any Financial Literacy on the front in. This is stupid, and we just keep piling on. Like theres no end to it. Your debt is trillions of dollars and growing every day. And we are dumbing down on top of that. It is not getting any better. And how about the kids that dont go to school . In my state, theres an awful lot of kids that cant go to school. You mean im working and paying my taxes and you are giving it away to people who went to college and had a good time, and now they dont want to pay a it back . You want to go to Rural America, you want to know why urban and Rural America is getting further and further apart . It is because Rural America is left behind and getting screwed. So, sir, i dont know what the hell you are doing, but it makes no sense for me. If you take a look at the smarter debt act, it will put it together for you. You can put it on your website tomorrow and show people how to take the burden of high Student Loan Debt off of their back by giving Services Back that we need in so many areas of our government. Some areas of our country. Everyone needs it, every state, and they dont do it. Did you know about what we are talking about, the smarter debt act . Sec. Cardona thank you for your comments, circle and i think we share the opinion that Higher Education has been out of reach for too many people, and we have a broken system. We are proud of the work we are doing to our teachers, who are making 35,000 a year, 10 year forgiveness. That person who has 60,000 in loan because the interest compounded a, she took out a 30,000 loan it is now owing 60,000, making under 40,000. The system is broken, and what we are try to do is fix it. The bipartisan bill sen. Manchin why dont we educate the person . When they sign up for the loan that they think its free money, it is not free money. Explain to them their budget. They have a budget when they go to college. This is your budget. If they have 12,000 them i guarantee you they have a nice apartment and indepth buying a car. Sec. Cardona it is often a veteran that has served our public and have not become rich but to make their community better. People who have been taking advantage of by universities and colleges. Sen. Manchin i agree with all about. Sec. Cardona we are working to make Higher Education affordable. Sen. Manchin you are in the Education Department did you have to educate people what is available. It is out there. 50 different categories where a student can say, i will work over here and help them i will go to Scientific Research from it i will work over there, because that takes care of my debt. They are paying for my college tuition. But no, they go out, whatever happens, they have no idea, it comes back to roost on that, and i have no idea. I am done. Thank you chairwoman baldwin and Ranking Member. I want to thank you for being here. On something that is very near and dear to me and the state of mississippi. On april 19 the department of 19th released its omnibus title ix rule which frankly, flies in the face of the original intent for title ix. I have been around a long time. I have followed this and it is amazing what this new rule is doing. There are many troubling aspects of it. Like its weakening of due process protections. In your own words that you said here today you said protecting students is number one priority for you. And you said the most important thing for me is student safety per so i am glad to know that you stated that for us today. Redefining the word sex to include gender identity and compelling speech is part of this. You are redefining the definition of sex. Does the rule requires schools to share information with parents regarding their childrens gender status . Sec. Cardona as an educator, i can tell you that engaging with families in communicating with families regularly is an important part of the work. Sen. Hydesmith but doesnt require but does it require schools to share information with parents regarding their childrens gender status . Does it require it . Sec. Cardona whether this rule does or not, parents and schools should be working together. That is an expectation of educators and that is what they have been doing. I have to tell you, the rule strengthens protections for students. It is about keeping students sen. Hydesmith i dont necessarily agree with that and im going to continue on. Do you investigate schools that transition children without notifying students parents . Sec. Cardona i do not investigate schools that do that. Sen. Hydesmith so if they dont follow the rule, there is no consequences . Sec. Cardona if there is a title ix investigation request, we look at the merits of the request. Sen. Hydesmith so you do investigate schools that socially transition children without their parents knowledge . Sec. Cardona depending on what the request is. I would defer that to the investigators on whether or not to take a case. Sen. Hydesmith with the new rule redefining the word sex, what does your department have to say about how this rule will impact biological females . Im thinking specifically about how it will allow transgender students to choose any bathroom, any locker room they wish, therefore eliminating the safe spaces for women and even pushing women out of athletics altogether. Do you agree that they are eliminating those same spaces when they allow transgenders to choose the bathroom and locker room they want to go in . Sec. Cardona i dont and i will tell you why. I have been an educator for 25 years. It is the role of educators to make sure students have the safety and privacy they need, and that we take into account the perspectives of different students. Senator, we cannot pick and choose which students we want to protect. All students deserve protection in our schools and what this title ix rule does is ensure all students including our lgbtqi students are protected. Sen. Hydesmith so when a biological male goes into the locker room with biological females, do you think that that is a safe space for those young girls . Sec. Cardona when girls walk into bathrooms you may not be recognizing students who are transgender, but because you do not recognize them does not mean i do not protect them. Sen. Hydesmith but biological males going into a girls locker room and a girls bathroom, you have no problem with that whatsoever, and you consider them being safe in all circumstances . Sec. Cardona again, the line of questioning is trying to create division. Sen. Hydesmith we are not trying to create division. You just said protecting students is my number one priority. So, do you feel like those biological females are protected in that setting, to the best of your ability . Sec. Cardona the title ix relation behalf protects all students and gives them access to the same opportunities all other students have in our schools. As i said before, we cannot pick and choose which students we want to protect. Sen. Hydesmith i totally agree, all students need protecting. But there is a difference in boys and girls and where they change clothes. Sec. Cardona schools make rules on how to make sure students are safe and have privacy. We educators have been doing this any title ix rules is reinforce the work they have to do to also protect students who are lgbtq, who have unfortunately historically in our country been under attack. Sen. Hydesmith no one is attacking anyone right now. We are talking about School Safety in girls locker rooms and bathrooms. Nobody is trying to attack anyone. We want all students safe. Sec. Cardona we do. Sen. Hydesmith so you dont need to change the conversation that somebody is attacking someone. So your position is that they still have the safe spaces that they deserve when biological girls are undressing . That is your position . Sec. Cardona it is my honor as an educator to protect students who have been marginalized in our community. And because of that, require additional Mental Health supports. I am not staying i am not saying you are attacking them, i am saying they are under attack in this country. As secretary of education it is my responsibility to protect all students, not just some. Sen. Hydesmith in the same breath you say safety is number one. Thank you. Chair baldwin senator bozeman. Sen. Bozeman thank you for being here. I want to associate myself with the problems of the massive rollouts you have heard so much about. It truly is a huge problem. One of the things that has come up is the farm and Small Business reporting requirement question 22 form. This question requires students to report the network of a familys business or notforprofit agriculture operations. Given the fluctuation in revenue yearoveryear operating a farm, question 22 misunderstands how farm families operate. Farm assets cannot be cashed out to support a loan in the same capacity as traditional investments. Throughout the process of drafting this requirement and i understand this is not something you have done, this is Something Congress did. But it has unintended consequences. That nobody realized. As the has the department i think it is going to be very difficult for any farm family to be able to get the student aid they had in the past, in the future under this requirement. Sec. Cardona thank you for sharing that. I am committed to making sure we are talking and yes to answer your question, our team has talked to farm families and we recognize the challenge they are under. We are committed to working with them and making sure they have access. I was in arkansas recently in the last two weeks working on increasing completion. I want to work with you and everyone in arkansas to get those numbers up one of the things we dont really talk about a lot is that across our country we have normalized a 60 completion, 70 print 70 completion per we need to work we recognize in rural communities, farm families have concerns with it and we are committed to working to support them in the process. Sen. Boozman that is exactly what we want you to work with us and work with congress to make sure that this is not going to be a very negative thing. Surveys tell us over 50 feel threatened. The only thing i would say is that we really do expect you to lose those believers. Nobody needs to be bullied. Everyone needs to feel safe. Again, you are going to need to step up and use some of those levers. Some of them you can do it outwardly. Others come you have a lot of ability to put pressure on institutions. And then transparency. Identifying these institutions that we are hearing report after report about. People need to understand what is going on. The other thing, in listening to senator manchin, i think what he was saying is really important. You have students that are simply not financially literate when they get out of high school. You gave the example of the lady that had the 30,000 loan that ballooned to 60,000. The question is, did she know that was going to happen . I suspect she had no idea that what she was signing. There is no incentive for the Higher Ed Institutions to provide that knowledge because it is a cash cow for them. It is to their advantage for students to take these loans out. They dont care if they pay them back or not. They dont have any advantage of explaining that this is money that is going to need to be paid back, the Interest Rate is going to be a burden. And looking at the potential income in the future, how are you going to cash flow all of this out. I would encourage you, let us help you with that. We can debate the student loan thing. I agree with senator manchin on that also. But regardless of that, as far as eliminating the problem in the future, if you want to have a real impact on peoples lives and not getting them in this situation going forward, that really would have a tremendous impact. Thank you, madam chair. Chair baldwin senator britt. Sen. Britt mr. Secretary, thank you for being here today. As you are aware and have heard from a number of my colleagues, the large antisemitic demonstrations and encampments that have broken out on College Campuses nationwide are simply unexcept double. Unacceptable. Some of our elite institutions, quoteunquote. To me, its a National Disgrace and a disservice to americas future. One back to november, republican senators have written multiple letters urging you to uphold title vi of the civil and ensure a Safe Learning environment exists for jewish students. I know the department has opened investigations and i heard you reference that today into some of these institutions including columbia. However, things have clearly not gotten better over the last five or six months. And it has proven they have gotten significantly worse. Mr. Secretary, does the Biden Administration really believe that it is effectively upholding title vi and ensuring a Safe Learning environment for jewish students right now . Just a simple yes or no. Sec. Cardona thank you, because i agree with you. The antisemitism students are experiencing is unacceptable. We are committed to making sure we investigate title vi. Sen. Britt investigation is one thing but do you think right now this administration is upholding title vi . Sec. Cardona we are. We are here to request additional investigators. In 2009, the number of cases has tripled since 2009 and we have 58 less people. Sen. Britt how long does this have to go on . If you look at the absurdity of some of this rhetoric on this campuses, when they are saying we are hamas. Do you think that is acceptable for a jewish student to have to hear that, or from the river to the sea, or go back to poland, or kill the jews . My question is, do you think that type of rhetoric is acceptable and you think that allows for jewish students to feel safe on campus . Sec. Cardona absolutely not. Sen. Britt thank you. Do you think it is ok to link arms and keep jewish students from attending class . Sec. Cardona absolutely not. Sen. Britt i am afraid that this administration is not learning the lessons from the past. When you look at the history, it was not ok to do that in the 1960s. Do you understand . And it is not ok to do that now. This is the United States of america. We have to uphold the laws in front of us. We have to make sure that different groups based on their race or ethnicity are not discriminated against. We have to have Safe Learning environments. And the Biden Administration is utterly failing the American People right now and failing the Jewish Community across this nation. And i ask you to do more. I dont know and what investigation it takes pretty i dont know where the bar is pretty but all the things i just referenced are not enough. And i hope you create a safe space across this nation for jewish students to learn grow and be fostered on College Campuses print anything less is unacceptable. I would like to ask you about your new title ix proposal. This weekend i sat at track sectionals watching my daughter run. I was so proud of her. She wanted to get her pr, which i had to learn what that meant. But when i saw the difference in the disparities we between the top female athletes and in the top male athletes, they were significant. I am reminded, as we look back over history here, and i want to make it very clear, i believe we are all made in the image of god and i believe each and every person should be treated with dignity and respect. But title ix was created to create fairness, to create a level Playing Field, to give young women the opportunity to strive, grow, and succeed. And when i look at the reality of your new title ix proposal, it clearly shows that that Playing Field is about to be tilted. You can look back to 1988, when you had ms. Joyner, who created a record in the 100 and 200 meter dash that still stands today. You can look in 2019, that very record that stands would have been beaten by 76 high school biological males. And my question to you is, how are we going to continue to create fairness if you are tilting the Playing Field, and underneath this current proposal, is it true that a biological man could receive a scholarship designated for a woman for collegiate athletics . Sec. Cardona thank you for your passion. I just want to clarify, the Biden Administration has over three times the number of investigations on title vi than the Trump Administration in four years, so were committed. Sen. Britt investigation is different from action. But now is the sec. Cardona we have way more cases. Sen. Britt what are you doing on columbias campus . Sec. Cardona we are doing a lot. We have updated guidance. We have a letter in draft right now. We have increased title vi investigations. Sen. Britt so when you see what happens i understand my time has expired. And you see they have asked for public safety, have asked the mayor to send in police to help and she has refused. Do you stand by the mayor or gw . Sec. Cardona i stand by the students who deserve to be safe on campus. As a father, that is what i expect. Lets Work Together to make sure the message is clear. That while the First Amendment is their freedom, when it crosses the line and makes students feel unsafe or harmed on campus, that is where we draw the line. Ive spoken to jewish students who have had antisemitic comments made at them. Its unacceptable, i agree with you. Sen. Britt lets Work Together and lets do something now. Thank you. Chair baldwin thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank you for your presence here today. This will end our hearing. I would like to thank my fellow committee members, and thank you, secretary cardona. For any senators u. S. Senators who wish to ask further questions, questions for the record will be due on may 7. The hearing record will also remain open until then for members who wish to submit additional materials for the record. And our committee will now stand in recess. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer cspans washington journal, a live forum involving you to discuss loose issues in Government Politics and public policy. From washington, d. C. And across the country. Wednesday morning, history professor Angus Johnson discusses the history of student protests and current protests taking place on College Campuses. And Wisconsin Republican congressman, and member of the education and workforce committee, will also be on to discuss campus protests over the israelhamas war and the situation in gaza. Washington journal, joint in the conversation live at 7 00 eastern wednesday morning on cspan, cspan now, or online at cspan. Org. Announr thursday, intio secretary deb haaland testifies on the president s 2025 budget request before theene energy and National Resources committee. Watch the hearing le at 10 00 a. M. Easte ocspan 3, cspan now, our free mobile videopp or online at cspan. Org. Announcer cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more, including sparklight. The greatest town on earth is the place you call home. At sparklight, it is our home, too, and right now, we are all facing our greatest challenge. Thats why sparklight is working round the clock to keep yo