Senate GOP scuttles Skandera nomination

Presented by Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE)

With help from Caitlin Emma, Kimberly Hefling and Jessica Bakeman

SCOOP: SENATE GOP SCUTTLES SKANDERA NOMINATION: Wondering when those Education Department vacancies will be filled? Well, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education may still be up for grabs after the Trump administration recently reversed plans to nominate New Mexico Education Secretary Hanna Skandera for the assistant secretary job, POLITICO has learned. The administration’s decision to pull back an offer came after Republicans raised concerns about Skandera’s support for the Common Core standards. The offer appears to have been extended before Hill Republicans were consulted.

— “About a dozen Republican offices were skeptical that they could ever vote yes” on Skandera because of her embrace of the standards, said a senior GOP aide. Those English and math standards are reviled by conservatives as a symbol of federal overreach. Republicans also weren’t interested in another fight over an education nominee after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ bruising confirmation process. Skandera, who sits on the governing board for the Common Core-aligned PARCC test, declined to comment.

— Skandera has about a year and a half left on the job in New Mexico and many believed that her extensive K-12 and higher education experience made her a good bet for a federal job. Continued lack of top staff at the Education Department could hamper the Trump administration’s priorities and ability to work with states on the Every Student Succeeds Act. “Hanna was as good a candidate as they were ever going to get and they do need someone of that intelligence and stature as part of that team,” said one advocate. Caitlin Emma has the story.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING AND WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. This year’s Lollapalooza lineup is really solid. I usually don’t like music festivals, but this one’s tempting. Send me your tips and feedback: [email protected] or @BenjaminEW. Share event listings: [email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

DEVOS GOES BACK TO SCHOOL TODAY: DeVos is heading to Carderock Springs Elementary School in Bethesda, Maryland, at 10 a.m. to celebrate National Reading Month, according to her public schedule.

— Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who has also taken heat for his promises to expand school choice options is slated to join her. The Republican governor has backed bills that would expand private school vouchers and charters in the state and Democrats have likened him to President Donald Trump, the Baltimore Sun reports.

ICYMI: SCOTUS ISSUES BOMBSHELL SPECIAL EDUCATION RULING: A unanimous decision by the Supreme Court Wednesday could have significant implications for students with disabilities across the country, prompting school districts to take a second look at how they’re serving those children under federal law. The high court sided with a student diagnosed with autism and his family by endorsing a higher standard when it comes to the benefits students must receive under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The decision was a huge victory for special education and civil rights advocates, while school boards expressed concern about further litigation, the potential costs of meeting a higher standard and inadequate federal special education funding. Caitlin reports.

AWKWARD MOMENT: The Supreme Court’s ruling in Endrew dropped during Neil Gorsuch’s Senate confirmation hearing — and rather inconveniently dumped on a legal standard Gorsuch had used in one of his past decisions. The Supreme Court ruling specifically challenges the Tenth Circuit’s interpretation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, including a 2008 opinion written by Trump’s pick for the high court in a similar case. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) grilled Gorsuch on his decision in light of the Supreme Court opinion. Gorsuch said that “If anyone is suggesting that I like a result where an autistic child happens to lose, that’s a heartbreaking accusation to me. Heartbreaking.” But, he said, “the fact of the matter is I was bound by circuit precedent … I was wrong because I was bound by circuit precedent and I’m sorry.” We’ve got more on that here.

— Meanwhile, the father of the child that Gorsuch ruled against in the 2008 case is scheduled to testify against him later this week, the Washington Post reports.

RICK PERRY WEIGHS IN ON … A STUDENT GOVERNMENT ELECTION: Trump’s energy secretary is calling into question the election of Texas A&M University’s first openly gay student body president. In an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, Perry, one of A&M’s most notable graduates, writes that he was initially proud of his alma mater when he read that students had selected a gay president. “Unfortunately, a closer review appears to prove the opposite; and the Aggie administration and SGA (Student Government Association) owe us answers,” Perry writes. The student who lost, and for whom Perry has come out swinging, appears to be the son of Texas GOP fundraiser Alison McIntosh, the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek points out.

— The energy secretary claims the winner of the election actually finished second. But hours after the polls closed, anonymous complaints rolled in accusing the student who actually got the most votes in the election of voter intimidation. He was “immediately disqualified” without an investigation into whether the allegations were legitimate, Perry claims. The election “is being treated as a victory for ‘diversity,’” Perry writes. “It is difficult to escape the perception that this quest for ‘diversity’ is the real reason the election outcome was overturned.”

KENTUCKY OPENS DOORS TO CHARTERS: One of the last state holdouts to charter schools will soon open its doors to them. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has signed a bill that paves the way for charter schools to operate. Bevin, a Republican, called the new law “a truly momentous step forward in providing quality choices for Kentucky’s most vulnerable students.” Before Wednesday, Kentucky was one of just seven states that didn’t allow charter schools, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Kimberly Hefling has more.

FLORIDA SCHOOLS FAKING RECORD GRADUATION RATES? State education officials in Florida are investigating whether the state’s record-level graduation rates are a result of districts gaming the numbers by transferring struggling students during their senior year. The move comes after a ProPublica investigation last month showed high-performing public high schools around the country, including in Orlando, are keeping up their graduation rates by sending students who are unlikely to finish to alternative charter schools run by for-profit companies. POLITICO Florida’s Jessica Bakeman has more.

COURT RULES TEXAS SCHOOL BOARD CAN START MEETING WITH PRAYER: Starting school board meetings with student-led prayers does not violate the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state, the Fifth Circuit Court says. The three-judge panel ruled that a school board is closer to a legislative body than a school, and since so-called “legislative prayer” is legal, so, too, is prayer at a school board meeting. “The [school] board is a deliberative body, charged with overseeing the district’s public schools, adopting budgets, collecting taxes, conducting elections, issuing bonds, and other tasks that are undeniably legislative,” the ruling says.

— The American Humanist Association, the D.C.-based group that filed suit against the district, said it will appeal the ruling. “The panel’s ruling is unprecedented and directly conflicts with precedent from the other appeals courts that have addressed this issue,” Monica Miller, senior counsel at the AHA’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, said in a statement. “More importantly, the panel’s ruling contravenes binding Supreme Court precedent, which requires lower courts to distinguish public school students from adults, and apply heightened scrutiny to protect freedom of conscience from even subtle coercive pressures.”

REPORT ROLL CALL

— A new report by the United Negro College Fund out today gauges African-American community leaders’ perceptions and engagement in K-12 education. It concludes they are informed about education issues and would like to be further engaged in education reform work.

— Findings from a new study by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development suggest that academic support to second-generation Asian American adolescents may be experienced as pressure and that stereotyping these students as high achievers can be problematic.

— New work by the Urban Institute highlights research on school closures. It finds that during a decade-long period that ended in 2013, about 2 percent of schools that closed for the summer never reopened and that a majority were in suburban areas.
Watch here.

SYLLABUS

— Trump vowed to lower prescription drug costs in a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus that also touched on his recent budget proposal and recommendations on infrastructure, poverty and criminal justice reform: POLITICO.

— Republican Congressman questions whether Pell grants discourage marriage: Inside Higher Ed.

— Ex-Penn State athletics director: “I wish I would have done more”: The Associated Press.

— Vouchers are picking up traction — and controversy — in Wisconsin: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

— After-school programs at more than 100 Chicago public schools face elimination under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget: WBEZ.

— Paul Quinn College is the first urban, historically black institution to gain federal recognition as a work college: Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

— Texas A&M University changes speaking policy after white supremacist Richard Spencer’s controversial speech there last year: CNN.

— Tennessee transgender “bathroom bill” dies in Senate: The Tennessean.

— Nevada students pitch bill that would require schools to teach about sexting, sexual consent, and driving under the influence: EdWeek.

Before you go , follow the Pro Education team. @ caitlinzemma ( [email protected]), @ khefling ( [email protected]), @ mstratford ( [email protected]) and @BenjaminEW ( [email protected]).