At the Congressional level, there has been little activity that directly impacts PreK-12 educational issues that are of importance to Catholic schools. That is due to the legislative priorities of the two committees that control the U.S. Department of Education and several other federal agencies.
In the House of Representatives, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Virginia Foxx (R-NC), oversees federal programs and initiatives dealing with education at all levels: preschool through high school, higher education and continuing education. The Workforce jurisdiction of that committee includes issues such as pension and retirement security, employee benefits, job training, employment discrimination and the Fair Labor Standards Act. All these issues are assigned to one of five subcommittees: civil rights and human services; early childhood, elementary and secondary education; health, employment, labor and pensions; higher education and workforce investment; and workforce protections.
The House education agenda has been focused mainly on issues in higher education that include student debt and loan forgiveness, discrimination on college campuses, financial aid and delay with the revised Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms and oversight of the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Cardona. In 2023, the House passed the H.R. 5 Parents Bill of Rights that outlines various rights of elementary or secondary school parents to be informed of curriculum and other aspects of schooling that impact their children. The bill was never considered by the Senate and has not been reintroduced in this current session of Congress.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), has jurisdiction over various issues related to education, health care, employment and retirement policies including the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Head Start, Higher Education, Student Financial Assistance, Job and Vocational Training and the Workforce Investment Act. In this legislative session, focus has been on healthcare, prescription drugs, retirement crisis and elder care. K-12 education issues have not been on the agenda.
The U. S. Department of Education has responsibility for implementing education legislation passed by Congress. Its activity is directed by the laws enacted and by the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR). These regulations govern all federal grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to the state or to an LEA (local public school district). The guidance and regulations for the ESEA and IDEA programs are based on those contained in EDGAR. Recently the U.S. Department of Education issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) indicating how they would update provisions to bring them into conformity with the current ESSA and IDEA laws. The NPRM requests comments and reactions to their proposals. NCEA, along with CAPE and other private school associations, submitted comments on the sections pertaining to ESEA, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and IDEA.
NCEA comments focused on several sections of the ESSA, noting that the reauthorization process addressed some of the inequities in the previous iterations of ESEA and then offered suggestions to help state and local educational agencies, as well as private school officials, during the consultation process for obtaining equitable services for eligible students and educational personnel in private schools. Some of the NCEA consultation comments included these recommendations that are based on the legislative language that states that the goal of consultation is to reach agreement.
a) The goal of reaching agreement is the means by which the consultation requirements of the statute can be properly implemented. Unfortunately, this section appears to be a suggestion, not a mandate as was intended and language should clarify that intent by referencing its applicability to all the required consultation topics.
b) The consultation requirements are frequently violated by LEAs who continue to see consultation as a “one and done” with the meeting that informs the private school officials of what will be provided for the eligible private school students and educational personnel. Directives regarding specific elements of timely and meaningful consultation during the design development and implementation of the programs should be prominently emphasized.
c) While the complaint process gives the private school official the conditions upon which a complaint may be filed, it does not reference the goal of achieving agreement. Emphasis should be placed on this language and its applicability to the requirement to give due consideration to the views of private school officials.
Presently, it’s that time of year again for navigating the local landscape of federal programs. By now each school principal should have been contacted by the LEA office that is responsible for administering federal education program benefits to determine the intent to participate in the programs for which Catholic school students and teachers are eligible to receive services. If this required annual contact has not occurred, the person designated to engage in the consultation processes should contact the LEA and if there is no response, contact the state ombudsman. Every school in the LEA district is to be contacted regardless of prior participation. A school may elect to participate even if it had declined in previous years.
The consultation process between the LEA officials and the private school representatives is the key to successful implementation of program benefits. The law and guidance detail the topics that are to be included during the consultation process. The guidance document says, “Consultation should provide the opportunity for all to express their views, to have their views given serious due consideration and discuss viable options for ensuring equitable participation.” All of the consultation topics should be discussed, or the consultation agreement should not be signed—and the private school official should document why it is not signed, citing the specific provisions that were not observed.
It is important for the Catholic school representatives to be familiar with the law and the guidance documents and not assume that the LEA officials are familiar with these documents. It is helpful for private school officials to download copies and make them available at the meetings. The sections of the law that pertain to private schools and the guidance documents are available on the NCEA public policy webpage.
Utilizing ESEA funds in a timely manner is important. Pay attention to the requirements about obligation of funds and expenditure of funds. Obligation refers to the date when the LEA makes a binding commitment for goods or services; expenditure refers to the actual spending of the funds by the LEA on behalf of the private school for obligated goods and services.
The law emphasizes that the obligation of funds should occur “in the fiscal year for which the funds are received by the LEA” and puts some restrictions on carry-over funds. If some funds remain unobligated due to delayed consultation or unexpected procurement challenges those funds must remain available to the affected schools in the following year, but if funds remain because they were not expended by choice of the private school, they become part of the general funds available for both public and private schools in the following year. All obligated funds must be spent within 27 months.
To avoid loss of designated funding, private school officials should contact the LEA during early spring to determine if additional funds are available so they may be expended responsibly before the close of the school year. The federal fiscal year is October 1-September 30 and although a state’s fiscal year may end on a different timeline, the ESEA funds must be made available through September to allow participation in summer activities.
The most important role of private school officials engaging in consultation is to be proactive advocates for their students, teachers and other educational personnel. Meeting their needs, not the convenience of the LEA or private school administrators, should be the goal of achieving maximum equitable participation in all eligible programs. If needed, use the services of the ombudsman to mediate differences.
As new information about program benefits becomes available, the details are provided on the NCEA website as well as in weekly updates. Catholic school leaders are urged to watch for news of programs and other public policy updates so that they can maximize their opportunities to participate and demonstrate to lawmakers and policymakers that these benefits are important to Catholic school students whose parents’ tax dollars provide them.
Sister Dale McDonald, PBVM, Ph.D.mcdonald@ncea.org