Latest news with #HouseCommitteeonEducation&Workforce
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Northwestern University president to appear again before Congress in August
Northwestern University President Michael Schill is slated to appear for a second time before a congressional committee over alleged antisemitism on campus. Schill will participate in an interview with the House Committee on Education & Workforce on Aug. 5, according to a Northwestern spokesperson. Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., first sent a letter to Schill to testify in April, accusing Northwestern of failing to fulfill its commitment to protect Jewish students. Crain's Chicago Business first reported the news. The Committee on Education & Workforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Schill last appeared before Congress in spring 2024, weeks after students erected a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus as part of a nationwide movement. Schill reached a deal with protesters five days into the demonstration, allowing the encampment to continue peacefully for several weeks. Since Schill's last testimony, Walberg said, congressional leaders have not received any documentation or updates on the university's efforts to combat antisemitism. 'The Committee seeks to understand both this disturbing climate of antisemitism at Northwestern as well as the University's apparent failure to protect Jewish students, and therefore seeks to conduct a transcribed interview with you,' Walberg wrote. A university spokesperson disputed those claims in a statement, noting that Northwestern took 'significant steps to address antisemitism' before the 2024-25 school year. The university released a report in March that outlined those efforts, including updating the student code of conduct and creating mandatory antisemitism training. 'Reports of antisemitism on campus this academic year were down significantly, and we are confident that our actions have made Northwestern a safer and more welcoming place for everyone, including our Jewish students,' the statement said. Northwestern is among several elite universities that have come under fire from the Trump administration for antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The federal government has frozen more than $790 million in federal funding to Northwestern amid ongoing civil rights investigations. When Schill appeared before the House committee last year, he was grilled for hours on his handling of Northwestern's encampment. Several leaders of Ivy League schools resigned following testimony at a similar congressional hearing in late 2023.
New York Post
18-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
NY charter school leader compares teachers union, lawmakers to segregationists ‘barricading' kids: ‘Super politically threatening'
The leader of New York's largest charter school network compared teachers' union activists and lawmakers to segregationists 'barricading' children from quality schools. Eva Moskowitz, CEO of the 57-school Success Academy, blasted labor leaders and lawmakers and said they are taking a page out of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace's playbook and standing in schoolhouse doors because they're 'super politically threatened' by charter schools putting the brakes on their gravy train. 'There is a deep connection in New York between the union and local elected officials for everything from trying to shut the schools down to barricading, not allowing children into the school building,' Moskowitz said during testimony before the House Subcommittee on Education on May 14. Advertisement 5 Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz testifying before the House Committee on Education & Workforce on May 13, 2025. House Committee on Education & Workforce She then referenced the landmark Supreme Court 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that declared 'separate but equal' racially segregated schools unconstitutional. 'I am experiencing sort of the opposite, where union operatives have not allowed children to get into the building. It's a pretty venomous debate, which is really, really unfortunate,' Moskowitz told committee members. Advertisement Moskowitz later told The Post she was referring to United Federation of Teachers protests in 2009 outside the Harlem Success Academy 2, which co-located in a school building with PS 123 in Harlem. She mentioned the ugly episode in her book, 'The Education of Eva Moskowitz.' Her testimony evoked Wallace, who infamously stood at the front of the admissions office at the University of Alabama in 1963 in an unsuccessful bid to block two black students from enrolling in classes in the previously segregated school. Moskowitz said dealing with the Democratic-controlled government in deeply blue New York 'has its challenges.' 5 Moskowitz compared teacher union leaders and lawmakers to segregationists for preventing children from joining charter schools. AP Advertisement 5 Moskowitz evoked former Alabama Gov. George Wallace in her testimony to Congress. AP Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Ca.), chairman of the panel and a charter school booster, asked Moskowitz if she had the support of Albany lawmakers given the high performance of her students in math and readings after hearing Success Academy students ranked first in New York State in math and third in reading, according to standardized test score results. On the contrary, she called the efforts to co-locate her charter schools in city buildings with unionized traditional public schools a '19-year battle' because 'the teachers union has made life very, very difficult' including by filing lawsuits to try to block access to school buildings. The union has unsuccessfully filed lawsuits to block co-location of Success Academy charter schools as recently as 2023 in Brooklyn and Queens. Advertisement Charter schools have become a polarizing political issue in recent years, with Republicans generally in support of school choice while many Democrats have lined up with the politically powerful teachers' union. 5 Moskowitz told Rep. Kevin Kiley that Success Academy hasn't been supported by many Albany lawmakers despite students achieving high marks in math and reading. House Committee on Education & Workforce Moskowitz said the teachers' union and lawmakers find it 'super politically threatening' upon hearing proof that poor and mostly minority students are excelling in her schools. 'There is a problem with a system of delivering [results],' she said. But the ranking Democrat on the education panel, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oregon), cited flaws as well as benefits of charter schools. 'At their best, they offer potential for innovation, flexibility and responsiveness to community needs,' Bonamici said. 'But at their worst, and too often in practice, they operate without adequate oversight, without sufficient safeguards for civil rights, and without the transparency required of traditional public schools,' she added. 5 Moskowitz testified that 'the teachers union has made life very, very difficult' for Success Academy. House Committee on Education & Workforce Advertisement Moskowitz told the panel that 100% of Success Academy high school graduates went on to to four-year colleges the past eight years — and 95% of students have taken and passed at least one Advanced Placement course. 'Providing a structured, joyful, focused learning environment with an exceptional teacher training and education training program is really our secret sauce,' Moskowitz said. She put in a plug for the High Quality Charter School Act, co-sponsored by Kiley, that would provide a new tax credit for charitable contributions to nonprofit charter school organizations. The House GOP did not include the tax break to publicly funded charter schools in its tax bill as it did for private schools, but Kiley vowed to include the provision in the final legislation. Advertisement Upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House Republican chairwoman, said NY kids need school choice. 'NY elected Democrats near universal opposition to school choice has left our students trapped in a failing system. Despite spending more than any state in the nation per student —New York's schools continue to underperform with rampant absenteeism and failing outcomes,' Stefanik said. 'It's time to give every child the chance to reach their full potential.' Advertisement The United Federation of Teachers had no immediate comment. Additional reporting by Joshua Christenson
New York Post
30-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
GOP lawmakers unveil plan to overhaul student loan system, forcing schools to foot the bill for defaulted accounts
Republican lawmakers on the House Education and Workforce Committee unveiled a plan Tuesday to overhaul the federal student loan system, with changes that include new caps on borrowing and forcing schools to reimburse the government for loans in default. The legislation, which is also aimed at offsetting the cost of extending President Trump's tax cuts, will reduce federal spending by $330 billion, according to the GOP-led committee. 'For decades, Congress has responded to the student loan crisis by throwing more and more taxpayer dollars at the problem — never addressing the root causes of skyrocketing college costs,' Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich) said in a statement. 'Colleges have ridden this gravy train of taxpayer dollars without any accountability for the quality of the education they provide or whether students can find jobs when they graduate,' the congressman added. 'This plan brings accountability and holds schools financially responsible for loading students up with debt.' 3 Walberg indicated that the changes will ensure programs like federal Pell Grants remain sustainable. House Committee on Education & Workforce If passed, the bill would impose a borrowing limit of $50,000 in federal student loans for undergraduate students starting on July 1, 2026, while graduate students will be limited to borrowing $100,000 and professional students will be capped at $150,000. Current limits depend on several factors but have allowed undergrad, grad and professional students to take out as much as $57,500, $138,500 and $224,000, respectively. Students would also be required to borrow the maximum amount they can before parents would be allowed access to the Parent Plus loan program, which the committee described as 'predatory,' under the bill. Parent PLUS loans currently allow parents to borrow up to the 'cost of attendance' for their children. As part of the bill's 'skin in the game' initiative, colleges and universities would be forced to pay 'a portion of their students' unpaid loans.' The percentage will be based on 'how much of a return on investment the degree provided,' according to a fact sheet released by the committee. 'Institutions that continue to saddle their students with debt eventually face increasing penalties and risk loss of access to federal student aid,' the House Education and Workforce Committee warned. 3 The Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan will cut an estimated $330 billion in federal spending, according to the GOP-led committee. REUTERS The plan eliminates unemployment deferment and economic hardship deferment for federal student loan borrowers and 'streamlines the litany' of repayment plans into just two: a fixed repayment plan and an income-driven repayment plan. A host of 'burdensome and costly' Biden-era repayment and loan forgiveness options will be scrapped under the proposal. 3 The proposal includes new caps on federal student loan borrowing and eliminates unemployment and economic hardship deferment. Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Pell Grant recipients will also be forced to enroll in more classes – 30 hours each academic year, up from 24 hours – in order to receive the financial aid. The Pell Grant program will also be offered to individuals enrolled in short-term workforce training programs under the proposal. Walberg said the overhaul will ensure 'the fiscal sustainability of targeted programs like the Pell Grant.' 'Bottom line, it's time to fix this broken cycle that is costly to taxpayers and leaves students worse off than if they never went to college,' the congressman said.
