INFLATION BARRIERS TO COLLEGE — The high costs of groceries and gas could crush some college students’ hopes of getting to school this fall.
— But some colleges aren’t sitting idly. Earlier this summer, Southwest Tennessee Community College President Tracy Hall made the decision to have virtual classes on Fridays through Aug. 12 as a cost-saving measure for students and employees.
“Our students and employees, like the rest of the nation, are facing historic inflation numbers and increasing gas prices,” Hall said in a statement at the time. “We are concerned about their welfare and how they may be impacted by this increased cost of living.”
— Looking ahead to the fall, Compton College President Keith Curry told your host he has also been putting programs in place to ensure students can get to school by having some of their basic needs met. The college in California — using federal Covid relief aid — is offering students a “GoPass” with unlimited free rides on the local Metro bus and rail through June 2023. It has also brought a mobile food pantry program to campus.
— Other programs include a guaranteed income program, where eligible students can receive $500 each month they are enrolled in school to cover basic needs.
— There’s gas money for student workers, too. “What we’ve been noticing at our campus over the last couple of months — we’re trying to hire student workers — student workers are not accepting positions off campus because of the increase in gas costs,” Curry said, noting that his campus has set aside $50,000 to help support these students.
IT’S MONDAY, JULY 25. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. I JUST GOT AN AIR FRYER. Send me your favorite recipes at [email protected]. (And as always, feel free to reach out to grab coffee too!) Send tips to my colleagues Juan Perez Jr. at [email protected] and Michael Stratford at [email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU —How is the economy affecting students’ path to school this fall? If you’re a student, college adviser or admissions counselor, or anyone who has thoughts on this, send me a note.
BONUS!!! — I’m at the Education Writers Association conference today! Come say “Hi!” I’m wearing the Mickey Mouse mask.
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COLLEGES SHOULD PLAN TO MEET STUDENTS’ NEEDS — To learn more about how colleges can support students during a period of high cost, your host chatted with Tracy Poon Tambascia, a professor of clinical education at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. Here are the highlights of our conversation:
BQ: Give me a rundown of the problem. What are students facing as they head to school this fall?
TPT: The public has been talking about inflation and how it’s affecting pocketbooks and families and gas prices. But I feel like in education, we haven’t been talking specifically about how it’s going to affect college students … The reality is, many of these students are independent, responsible for their own well being every day every week, and some of them even have dependents.
When we talk about the price of gas, commuting to school is expensive. If you don’t live in campus housing, you are subject to rising rents … Many campuses have been responding to this for the past several years, by opening food pantries. But I think we’re going to see more of it this year.
BQ: What can colleges do to help?
TPT: College students’ basic needs challenges are often just so invisible. There could be a level of shame or reluctance of students to seek help, feeling like they’re in an environment which oftentimes includes a lot of what appears to be privileges. I would say it’s very important to make sure that services are publicized, communicated and made available, so students can get the immediate help that they need.
JACKSON WILL WEIGH IN ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION — The Supreme Court on Friday moved to deconsolidate the two affirmative action cases it expects to hear this fall. The cases brought forward by anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are expected to have broad ramifications for how race is considered in college admissions.
— The court scheduled a one-hour argument in the Harvard case and a one-hour argument in the UNC case. While no date is set, experts say it will likely be sometime in November.
— Why this matters: This means Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the high court, will get to weigh in on one affirmative action lawsuit that aims to erase the use of race in public college admissions. She has said she would recuse herself from the case involving Harvard, her alma mater, though it is unlikely to impact the case’s outcome due to the conservative majority on the Supreme Court bench.
HARRIS REBUKES ARMING TEACHERS — Vice President Kamala Harris, in a 30-minute fireside chat with Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Randall Woodfin at the National Urban League conference on Friday, was pressed on how the Biden administration can do more to protect children from deadly mass shootings in schools.
— “I think we all in this room care about the safety of our children,” Woodfin said. “We know you do as well … What can you do more of to protect our children while they’re actually in schools?”
— “One of the things that we got to stop saying is that the way that we’ll keep our children safe in school is if their teacher has a gun,” Harris said. “We got to stop that. That’s not the solution.”
— The vice president blamed easy access to “assault weapons” as the main issue spurring mass shootings in schools. Then, she made the conversation about the midterm elections. “Let’s agree that we have to act on that, and we have to elect people then, in the next 109 days, who will promote safety by understanding the connection between things like reasonable gun safety laws and safety,” Harris said.
CBC TAKES ON SESAME PLACE AFTER VIRAL SNUB — Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) is calling for a meeting with Sesame Place park president, Cathy Valeriano, after a video of a character refusing to interact with two young Black girls went viral. Beatty said in a statement that even though Sesame Place issued a formal apology, she wants to “discuss the changes, plans of action and training the park plans to implement.”
FIRST IN MORNING ED: ARGUING AGAINST DEMOLISHING ED — The push to get rid of the Education Department is bubbling up again, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress. The report follows former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ remarks at the Moms for Liberty summit this month, where she said: “I personally think the Department of Education should not exist.”
— DeVos’ sentiment is not new. For years, the GOP and prominent conservative think tanks have voiced the same point of view. The Heritage Foundation calls for eliminating the Education Department at least once a year.
— But the idea to wind down the department is garnering broad support from a new crop of Republican leaders, including Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), according to CAP. Scott’s education policy plan is at the top of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair’s 12-point “Rescue America” platform.
— “We will close the federal Department of Education,” the plan says. “Education is a state function. If Congress wants to spend money on education, they can cut out the middleman and send it directly to schools and parents.”
— Doing away with the department, CAP argues, would lead to the defunding of federal education resources for several critical programs, including those serving students with disabilities and from low-income families. This includes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandates, Pell Grants and the Federal Work-Study Program.
WHAT TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS WEEK — The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s fifth annual Reagan Institute Summit on Education will take place July 27-28. The hybrid event will feature: seven governors, two Supreme Court Justices and dozens of state officials, university leaders and advocates
— Uvalde postpones decision to fire school police chief: The New York Times
— Opinion: I’m a student in Texas. My teachers and I shouldn’t be responsible for stopping a mass shooting: TIME
— College-shopping students have a new query: Is abortion legal there?: The Washington Post
— After Parkland, one question remains: What is justice?: The New York Times
— Losing a parent can derail teens’ lives. A high school grief club aims to help: NPR
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