Aside from some hearings and the confirmation of Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., Congress has not been particularly busy on the K-12 front since it passed the Every Student Succeeds Act late last year. But there are congressional elections this year, and some of them could have a notable impact on the two committees that deal with K-12 policy. Let's look at the Senate Health, Education, L... Read more »
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) told Bloomberg BNA today that he will support Rep. Virginia Foxx's play for the Education and the Workforce Committee's top spot next year. The move makes Foxx the front-runner to replace Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) as the committee's chair. Shortly after Kline announced that he would retire at the end of this year, a spokeswoman for Foxx told Bloomberg BNA that the North Car... Read more »
Members of the United States Congress have voiced their support for the Little Sisters of the Poor before their case is argued before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. “We talk a lot about public service up here. Well, these are the people who live it,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said of the sisters on the House Floor on Tuesday, noting that they serve the poor in 31 countries. “They are the ... Read more »
Members of Congress weighed the concerns of parents, researchers, and educators about the sensitive intersection of education data and student privacy at a House education committee hearing Tuesday. Among the topics: parents' desire for transparency and more control over what data is collected and how it's used; the need for researchers to have comprehensive and varied data; and the work states ha... Read more »
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC Fifth District) visited High County Community Health on March 8 to tour its facilities and meet with staff. The Boone-based health care provider, which also serves Avery County, makes its services available to any patient regardless of insurance coverage. The offices accept private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and for the uninsured, a sliding fee scale is availab... Read more »
Republican lawmakers inclined to be skeptical of the Obama administration's agenda warned Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez that they are watching his department closely as it formulates rules and regulations regarding overtime pay, retirement advice and workforce development. “I would strongly encourage you to take a step back and build bipartisan consensus,” Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., told Pere... Read more »
The Obama administration didn't act illegally in disbursing $5 billion in funds to health insurers under an Affordable Care Act program, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said. At a March 15 hearing on the HHS budget held by the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Reps. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) and Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) cited a Feb. 23 Congressional Research Service memo that said the f... Read more »
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, and North Davidson Middle School Principal Amy Hyatt look over seventh-grader Brady Gum's shoulder during his computer skills class Monday. Mat Batts/The Dispatch Two Davidson County schools played host to U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, on Monday, showcasing many of the tools and projects taking place in their classrooms each day. During their newly created “Armor ... Read more »
Republican lawmakers are using the occasion of John B. King Jr.'s nomination to become secretary of education to revisit the controversy over the Education Department's enforcement of campus sexual assault law. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) broached the subject in a House hearing Wednesday (and swiftly posted the video to her Twitter). And it's likely to surface again today on the Senate side — prob... Read more »
North Carolina Congresswoman Virginia Foxx questioned the Education Department's overreach when it comes to campus sexual assault during a hearing on Wednesday. The congresswoman directed her question to Dr. John King, the acting secretary of the Education Department, who is currently going through the confirmation process to officially become head of the department. "I'm very concerned about what... Read more »