Teach the Vote's Week in Review: March 11, 2016

Date Posted: 3/11/2016 | Author: Jennifer Mitchell, CAE
Happy Friday! Here's a recap of this week's news:
The March 1 Texas primary elections were historic in many ways. Some closely watched races resulted in narrow margins of victory and even prompted recounts and further analysis of the ballots in some instances.

ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann contributed the following update on education-related developments in the nation's capital this week. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) met Wednesday, March 9, to consider the nomination of Dr. John King to serve as Secretary of Education. Dr. King is currently functioning as the acting secretary after serving as the Deputy Education Secretary at the Department of Education (ED) under Secretary Arne Duncan. After being nominated by President Obama to fill the post, the HELP committee convened a confirmation hearing on the nomination in late February where King was asked to weigh in on issues of importance to public education. In its markup this week, the HELP committee voted 16-6 to advance King's nomination to the full Senate. In his closing comments, Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said he hoped the Senate would promptly confirm Dr. King, highlighting the need for accountable leadership as ED works to implement the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The six no votes came from Republican members of the committee, but Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also expressed hesitation. She said she would not be able to support Dr. King’s nomination in the full Senate until she gets answers to her policy questions on student loans and for-profit colleges. In related news, Dr. King continued his Capitol Hill budget tour this week. King testified Thursday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. We reported late last month that he testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. King is making the rounds to defend President Obama’s FY 2017 budget proposal.

Don't forget to set your clocks forward this weekend!

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