[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                       EXAMINING THE POLICIES AND
                   PRIORITIES OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT
                              OF EDUCATION

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

             HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 24, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-22

                               __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

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          Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov

                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
44-859 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------   

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

             ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman

RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona            VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut              Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,      JOE WILSON, South Carolina
  Northern Mariana Islands           GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida         TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon             GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California              ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina        RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK DeSAULNIER, California          JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey          JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan           DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York             VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana              MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair  MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin                JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland

                   Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
                  Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
                                 ------                                
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Hearing held on June 24, 2021....................................     1

Statement of Members:
    Scott, Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby'', Chairman, Committee on 
      Education and Labor........................................     1
        Prepared statement of....................................     3
    Foxx, Hon. Virginia, Ranking Member, Committee on Education 
      and Labor..................................................     3
        Prepared statement of....................................     4

Statement of Witnesses:
    Cardona, Miguel, Secretary of the Department of Education....
        Prepared statement of....................................

Additional Submissions:
    Chairman Scott:
        ``Northam Announces $46.6 Million in Federal Funding for 
          Virginia Private Schools,'' Emporia Independent 
          Messenger, April 10, 2021..............................    98
    Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho, a Delegate in Congress 
      from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands:
        Letter dated June 25, 2021 May 10, 2021..................   101
    Wilson, Hon. Federica S., a Representative in Congress from 
      the State of Florida:
        ``Action Memorandum: Automating the Discharge of Federal 
          Student Loan Debt for Individuals who are Totally and 
          Permanently Disabled,'' 100 Day Docket Student Defense, 
          December 14, 2020......................................   102
    Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of Oregon:
        ``Oregon's on track to send record state funding to 
          public schools. There could still be cuts.'', Oregon 
          Public Broadcasting, June 16, 2021.....................   111
    Espillat, Hon. Adriano, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of New York:
        ``Schumer Praised for Work on Rescue Plan Act to Assist 
          Catholic Schools,'' Catholic New York, March 24, 2021..   118
    Grijalva, Hon. Raul M., a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of Arizona:
        Prepared statement.......................................   121
    Levin, Hon. Andy, a Representative in Congress from the State 
      of Michigan:
        Letter from Van Dyke Public Schools......................   123
        Letter from K-12 Alliance of Michigan dated June 24, 2021   124
        Letter from Ferndale Schools dated June 23, 2021.........   126
    Morelle, Hon. Joseph D., a Representative in Congress from 
      the State of New York:
        ``Nearly $400 million in federal aid coming to Rochester-
          area schools,'' Rochester City News, March 18, 2021....   127
    Norcross, Hon. Donald, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of New Jersey:
    Letter dated June 23, 2021...................................   130
    Ranking Member Foxx and Owens, Hon. Burgess, a Representative 
      in Congress from the State of Utah:
        Letter dated June 23, 2021...............................   133
    Allen, Hon. Rick, a Representative in Congress from the State 
      of Georgia:
        ``New Poll Confirms Widespread Support for School 
          Choice,'' Echelon Insights.............................   136
    Steel, Hon. Michelle, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of California:
        ``Izumi: SCOTUS move on Harvard Asian bias case a hopeful 
          sign,'' Boston Herald, June 20,2021....................   138
        ``Why The Asian American Students Lost Their Case Against 
          Harvard (But Should Have Won),'' Forbes, October 1, 
          2019...................................................   142
    Questions submitted for the record by:
        Courtney, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the 
          State of Connecticut...................................   147
        Ms. Wilson...............................................   147
        Wild, Hon. Susan, a Representative in Congress from the 
          Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...........................   147
        Bowman, Hon. Jamaal, a Representative in Congress from 
          the State of New York..................................   148
        Ranking Member Foxx......................................   149
        Wilson, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the 
          State of South Carolina................................   153
        Thompson, Hon. Glenn, a Representative in Congress from 
          the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.......................   154
        Fitzgerald, Hon. Scott, a Representative in Congress from 
          the State of Wisconsin.................................   154
        Miller, Hon. Mary E., a Representative in Congress from 
          the State of Illinois..................................   155
        Letlow, Hon. Julia, a Representative in Congress from the 
          State of Louisiana.....................................   155
    Responses to questions submitted for the record by:
        Secretary Cardona........................................

 
                       EXAMINING THE POLICIES AND
                   PRIORITIES OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT
                              OF EDUCATION

                              ----------                              


                        Thursday, June 24, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
                          Committee on Education and Labor,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:16 a.m. via 
Zoom, Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott (Chairman of the 
Committee) presiding.
    Present: Representatives: Scott, Courtney, Sablan, Wilson 
of Florida, Bonamici, Takano, Adams, DeSaulnier, Norcross, 
Jayapal, Morelle, Wild, McBath, Hayes, Levin, Omar, Stevens, 
Legerrnandez, Manning, Mrvan, Bowman, Pocan, Castro, Espaillat, 
Mfume, Foxx, Wilson of South Carolina, Thompson, Walberg, 
Grothman, Stefanik, Allen, Banks, Comer, Keller, Murphy, 
Miller-Meeks, Owens, Good, McClain, Harshbarger, Miller, 
Fitzgerald, Cawthorn, Steel, and Letlow.
    Staff present: Phoebe Ball, Disability Counsel; Melissa 
Bellin, Professional Staff; Katie Berger, Professional Staff; 
Jessica Bowen, Professional Staff; Rashage Green, Director of 
Education Policy; Christian Haines, General Counsel; Rasheedah, 
Chief Clerk; Sheila Havenner, Director of Information 
Technology; Joe Herrbach, Professional Staff; Ariel Jona, 
Policy Associate; Andre Lindsay, Policy Associate; Katie 
McClelland, Professional Staff; Max Moore, Staff Assistant; 
Mariah Mowbray, Clerk/Special Assistant to the Staff Director; 
Kayla Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique Pluviose, Staff 
Director; Manasi Raveendran, Oversight Counsel-Education; 
Benjamin Sinoff, Director of Education Oversight; Lakeisha 
Steele, Senior Education Policy Advisor; Theresa Thompson, 
Professional Staff; Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of 
Information Technology; Claire Viall, Professional Staff; 
Joshua Weisz, Communications Director; Harley Adsit, Minority 
Press Secretary; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; Amy Raaf 
Jones, Minority Director of Education and Human Resources 
Policy; Dean Johnson, Minority Legislative Assistant; Hannah 
Matesic, Minority Director of Operations; Audra McGeorge, 
Minority Communications Director; Jake Middlebrooks, Minority 
Professional Staff Member; Eli Mitchell, Minority Legislative 
Assistant; Maureen O'Toole, Minority Press Assistant; Alex 
Ricci, Minority Speechwriter; Chance Russell, Minority 
Legislative Assistant; Mandy Schaumburg, Minority Chief Counsel 
and Deputy Director of Education Policy; Brad Thomas, and 
Minority Senior Education Policy Advisor.
    Chairman Scott. The Committee on Education and Labor will 
come to order and welcome everyone. I note a quorum is present. 
The Committee is meeting today to hear testimony on ``Examining 
the Policies and Priorities of the United States Department of 
Education.''
    This is an entirely remote hearing and as such the 
Committee's hearing room is officially closed. All microphones 
will be kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary 
background noises. The Members and the witnesses are 
responsible for unmuting themselves when they are recognized to 
speak or when they wish to seek recognition.
    If a remote witness experiences technical difficulties 
during the hearing, please stay connected to the platform. Make 
sure you are muted and use your phone to immediately call the 
Committee's IT director, whose number was provided in advance. 
Should the Chair experience technical difficulty and need to 
step away, another majority Member is hereby authorized to 
assume the gavel in the Chair's absence.
    In order to assure the Committee's five-minute rule is 
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time using the 
Committee's field timer, which will appear in its own thumbnail 
picture and will show a blinking light when time is up. As I 
indicated previously, we'll skip the roll call so that the 
secretary can make his hard stop at the appointed time.
    Pursuant to Group Committee Rule 8(c), opening statements 
are limited to the Chair and Ranking Member, and I recognize 
myself now for the purpose of making an opening statement. 
Today we're meeting to discuss the Department of Education's 
budget request for fiscal 2022 and examine the Department's 
priorities to support students, educators, and communities.
    Secretary Cardona, welcome to the Committee on Education 
and Labor, and thank you for being with us today. Today we'll 
look forward to hearing your vision to expand access to quality 
education and help students and schools recover from the 
pandemic. Now at the beginning of this administration, you 
inherited an Education Department that spent 4 years moving in 
the wrong direction.
    Under the Trump administration, the Department failed to 
provide meaningful guidance to help students cope with the 
pandemic, eroded civil rights protections for students, they 
failed to faithfully implement the ``Every Student Succeeds 
Act'' and they withheld debt relief from hundreds of thousands 
of students who were defrauded by low quality institutions 
while refusing to hold these institutions accountable.
    Mr. Secretary, under your leadership, the Biden-Harris 
administration has made critical progress of restoring the 
Department's commitment to students and educators. In March, 
the administration worked with Congress to pass the American 
Rescue Plan Act. This package provided the largest one-time 
Federal investment in K through 12 education, in our Nation's 
history, and it distributed using the Title 1A formula so that 
the greatest resources went to the communities with the 
greatest needs. Its funding has allowed school districts to 
reopen safely, remain open and make up for lost time in the 
classroom.
    While others have demanded that schools reopen, the Rescue 
Act secured the resources to help schools reopen safely. The 
funding allowed schools to purchase personal protective 
equipment, repair broken and--repair and replace broken 
ventilation systems and take other steps to follow CDC 
guidelines for reopening schools safely.
    Importantly, school districts are also using the funding to 
help students get back on track after the pandemic. School 
districts must dedicate 20 percent of the funding they receive 
to address learning loss, and support students' social and 
emotional well-being. I want to recognize the Department for 
providing school districts with evidence-based guidance on how 
to use the relief to support students and reopen classrooms.
    Because of these efforts, schools finally had the resources 
and support they need. As of April, 96 percent of K through 8 
schools were already for hybrid or full-time in-person 
learning. As Dr. James Lane, the State superintendent in my 
home State noted, and I quote, ``These resources will help 
students and teachers remain healthy and safe.'' I'd like to 
now enter into the record an article in which Dr. Lane supports 
these critical investments.
    Chairman Scott. The American Rescue Plan is also helping 
institutions of higher education weather the pandemic. The 
package provided a financial lifeline for institutions 
grappling with devastating enrollment declines and revenue 
losses and require that an institution dedicate at least half 
of the funding they receive for direct aid to help students 
avoid hunger, homelessness, and other hardships.
    These critical investments are helping students, schools, 
and institutions to the road of recovery. And yet we must look 
beyond restoring the pre-pandemic status quo that already left 
far too many students behind, so today we'll discuss how the 
Department's budget request, the American Jobs Plan and the 
American Families Plan will build back a better education 
system where everyone can succeed.
    Drawn from the Americans College Promise Act, the American 
Families Plan invests in providing tuition-free community 
college and reduced costs for students at HBCUs and other 
minority-serving institutions. The package also provides an 
historic increase in Pell grants, which help more students get 
a quality degree.
    The Americans Jobs Plan also includes promising funding to 
help schools retrofit dangerously outdated school buildings, 
including ventilation systems, and it provides community 
colleges with the necessary resources to modernize campus 
facilities and technological infrastructure.
    So today we also look forward to hearing about the 
Department's budget and what it will do to confront persistent 
academic achievement gaps, restore access to education for 
students with disabilities, lower costs of college and ensure 
that all students have access to the quality education they 
need to reach their full potential.
    [The statement of Chairman Scott follows:]

        Statement of Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott, Chairman, 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

    Today, we are meeting to discuss the Department of Education's 
budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 and examine the Department's 
priorities to support students, educators, and communities.
    Secretary Cardona, welcome to the Committee on Education and Labor 
and thank you for being with us today. Today, we look forward to 
hearing your vision to expand access to quality education and help 
students and schools recover from the pandemic.
    At the beginning of this Administration, you inherited an Education 
Department that spent 4 years moving in the wrong direction. Under the 
Trump administration, the Department:

   Failed to provide meaningful guidance to help students cope 
        with the pandemic;

   Eroded civil rights protections for students;

   Failed to faithfully implement the Every Student Succeeds 
        Act; and

   Withheld debt relief from hundreds of thousands of students 
        who were defrauded by low-quality institutions while refusing 
        to hold these institutions accountable.

    Mr. Secretary, under your leadership, the Biden-Harris 
Administration has made critical progress toward restoring the 
Department's commitment to students and educators.
    In March, the Administration worked with Congress to pass the 
American Rescue Plan Act. This package provided the largest one-time 
Federal investment in K-12 education in our Nation's history and 
distributed it using the Title I-A formula so that the greatest 
resources went to communities with the greatest needs.
    This funding has allowed school districts to reopen safely, remain 
open, and make up for lost time in the classroom.
    While others have demanded that schools reopen, the Rescue Act 
secured the resources to help schools reopen safely. The funding allows 
schools to:

   Purchase personal protective equipment,

   Repair and replace broken ventilation systems, and

   Take other steps to follow C-D-C guidance for reopening 
        schools safely.

    Importantly, school districts are also using this funding to help 
students get back on track after the pandemic. Districts must dedicate 
20 percent of the funding they received to address learning loss and 
support students' social and emotional well-being.
    I want to recognize the Department for providing school districts 
with evidence-based guidance on how to use the relief to support 
students and reopen classrooms.
    Because of these efforts, schools finally have the resources and 
support they need. As of April, 96 percent of K-8 schools were already 
open for hybrid or full-time in-person learning. As Dr. James Lane, the 
State superintendent in my home State, noted, quote: ``These resources 
will help keep students and teachers remain healthy and safe.'' I would 
now like to enter into the record a letter from Dr. Lane supporting 
these critical investments.
    The American Rescue Plan is also helping institutions of higher 
education weather the pandemic. The package provided a financial 
lifeline for institutions grappling with devastating enrollment 
declines and revenue losses. And it required that an institution 
dedicate at least half of the funding they received for direct aid to 
help students avoid hunger, homelessness, and other hardships.
    These critical investments are helping students, schools, and 
institutions to the road of recovery. Yet, we must look beyond 
restoring the pre-pandemic status quo that already left far too many 
students behind.
    Today, we will discuss how the Department's budget request, the 
American Jobs Plan, and the American Families Plan would build back a 
better education system where everyone can succeed.
    Drawing from the America's College Promise Act, the American 
Families Plan invests in providing tuition-free community college and 
reducing costs for students at H-B-C-Us and other minority serving 
institutions. The package also provides a historic increase in Pell 
Grants, which would help more students get a quality degree.
    The American Jobs Plan also includes promising funding to help 
schools retrofit dangerously outdated school buildings, including 
ventilation systems. And it provides community colleges with the 
necessary resources to modernize campus facilities and technological 
infrastructure.
    Today, we also look forward to hearing what the Department's budget 
will do to:

   Confront persistent academic achievement gaps,

   Restore access to education for students with disabilities,

   Lower the cost of college, and,

   Ensure that all students have access to the quality 
        education they need to reach their full potential.

    Mr. Secretary, thank you, again, for joining us today. I am now 
pleased to recognize the distinguished Ranking Member of the Committee, 
Dr. Foxx, the gentlelady from North Carolina, for the purpose of making 
an opening statement.
                                 ______
                                 
    Chairman Scott. So Mr. Secretary, thank you again for 
joining us today, and I'm pleased to recognize the 
distinguished Ranking Member of the Committee, Dr. Foxx, the 
gentlelady from North Carolina, for the purpose of making an 
opening statement. Dr. Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you Mr. 
Secretary for being here. Mr. Secretary, Americans have 
suffered greatly in the past 15 months. Far-reaching government 
shutdowns to flatten the curve for 2 weeks turned into 
permanent stay-at-home orders. Businesses ground to a halt. 
Millions of individuals lost their jobs. America's school 
children, if they received any instruction at all, learned 
their course material by staring listlessly at a small screen 
for hours every day.
    Families did the best they could under the trying 
circumstances. Our initial instinct to preserve life was 
notable.
    Trusting virologists at the outset of the pandemic made 
sense because there were so many unknowns. They are scientists. 
Surely as more evidence became available and natural 
experiments ran their course, government leaders with access to 
the latest data would modify their response accordingly.
    Evidence of the novel coronavirus' negligible effect on 
children grew to levels impossible to ignore. But nothing 
changed. Blue State politicians forced children to spend their 
lives indoors and away from friends and loved ones. Democrats, 
including high ranking officials in this administration, 
discarded the scientific method in favor of narrow political 
interests and their teacher union allies.
    Democrats' actions have consequences. Low income and 
minority students suffered disproportionately from school 
closures. One study estimated the average student learning loss 
would be 10 months. But that number increases to as many as 16 
months for students of color. Data from the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention reveal a tragic mental health 
deterioration amongst our country's youth.
    Emergency room trips caused by potential suicide attempts 
by children aged 12 to 17 rose 22 percent in the summer of 
2020, and 39 percent in the winter of 2021. Unnecessarily long 
shutdowns did incalculable harm to those children, their 
families, and their communities. President Biden's bloated 
budget recognizes the damages Democrats' shutdown policies have 
done to our children.
    But his proposed solution creates further harm for this 
generation. It mortgages our children's future on duplicative, 
unnecessary, and unconstitutional programs. While the Secretary 
will likely focus on all the expensive new program proposals in 
the President's budget that have no hope of becoming law, 
Committee Republicans cannot help but notice the preventable $1 
trillion student loan repayment disaster looming on the 
horizon. Federal student loan borrowers have not had to pay 
back a single penny since March 2020, but the repayment and 
interest rate freeze ends on September 30.
    To date, Secretary Cardona has not communicated his plan to 
transition these loans from inactive to repayment status. The 
pandemic is over, and we expect the Secretary to take ownership 
of his bureaucracy's responsibility to America's students and 
particularly the taxpayers. Other priorities of Secretary 
Cardona's Department of Education are not inspiring the 
American people's confidence in this administration.
    He is using the application process for the American 
History and Civics Education program to promote Critical Race 
Theory. Indoctrinating children is a violation of Federal law. 
Critical Race Theory is contrary to the American ideal of 
judging people on their character, not their physical 
appearance. Secretary Cardona has failed to make substantive 
progress toward protecting college students from attempts by 
our foreign enemies to influence campuses.
    This administration has neither opened or closed any 
investigations into the donations institutions receive from or 
contracts they entered into with adversarial foreign sources. 
China should not be given free rein on our college campuses. 
Secretary Cardona is also working to overturn Title IX 
regulations that guarantee the rights of both sexual assault 
survivors and the accused. Our Constitution guarantees the 
right to due process. Secretary Cardona must protect students 
who survive sexual assault and uphold the ability of the 
accused to use the same constitutional rights enjoyed by his 
boss and notable other Democrat elites.
    There are good reasons why the word ``education'' does not 
appear in the Constitution. Education is done best when it is 
handled at the local level. The Department of Education is 
incompetent. The solution if not more of the same, which is 
what the President's budget represents, but less of what has 
sidetracked our country's education system, the Department of 
Education itself.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Foxx follows:]

           Statement of Hon. Virginia Foxx, Ranking Member, 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

    Americans suffered greatly in the past 15 months. Far-reaching 
government shutdowns to flatten the curve for 2 weeks turned into 
permanent stay at home orders. Business grounded to a halt. Millions of 
individuals lost their jobs. America's school children, if they 
received any instruction at all, learned their course material by 
staring listlessly at a small screen for hours every day.
    Families did the best they could under the trying circumstances. 
Our initial instinct to preserve life was noble.
    Trusting virologists at the outset of the pandemic made sense 
because there were so many unknowns. They are scientists. Surely as 
more evidence became available, as natural experiments ran their 
course, government leaders with access to the latest data would modify 
their response accordingly. Evidence of the novel coronavirus's 
negligible effect on children grew to levels impossible to ignore.
    But nothing changed. Blue State politicians forced children to 
spend their lives indoors and away from friends and loved ones. 
Democrats, including high-ranking officials in this administration, 
discarded the scientific method in favor of narrow political interests 
and their teachers union allies.
    Democrats' actions have consequences.
    Low-income and minority students suffered disproportionately from 
school closures. One study estimated the average student's learning 
loss would be 10 months, but that number increases to as many as 16 
months for students of color.
    Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal a 
tragic mental health deterioration amongst our country's youth. 
Emergency room trips caused by potential suicide attempts by children 
aged 12 to 17 rose 22 percent in the summer of 2020 and 39 percent in 
the winter of 2021. Unnecessarily long shutdowns did incalculable harm 
to those children, their families, and their communities.
    President Biden's bloated budget recognizes the damage Democrats' 
shutdown policies have done to our kids, but his proposed solution 
creates further harm for this generation. It mortgages our children's 
future on duplicative, unnecessary, and unconstitutional programs.
    While the Secretary will likely focus today on all the expensive 
new program proposals in the President's budget that have no hope of 
becoming law, Committee Republicans cannot help but notice the 
preventable $1 trillion student loan repayment disaster looming on the 
horizon. Federal student loan borrowers have not had to pay back a 
single penny since March 2020, but the repayment and interest rate 
freeze ends on September 30. To date, Secretary Cardona has not 
communicated his plan to transition these loans from inactive to 
repayment status. The pandemic is over, and I expect the Secretary to 
take ownership of his bureaucracy's responsibility to America's 
students and taxpayers.
    Other priorities of Secretary Cardona's Department of Education are 
not inspiring the American people's confidence in this administration.
    He is using the application process for the American History and 
Civics Education program to promote Critical Race Theory. 
Indoctrinating children is a violation of Federal law. Critical Race 
Theory is contrary to the American ideal of judging people on their 
character, not their physical appearance.
    Secretary Cardona has failed to make substantive progress toward 
protecting college students from attempts by our foreign enemies to 
influence campuses. This administration has neither opened nor closed 
any investigations into the donations institutions received from, or 
contracts they entered into, with adversarial foreign sources. China 
should not be given free rein on our college campuses.
    Secretary Cardona is also working to overturn Title IX regulations 
that guarantee the rights of both sexual assault survivors and the 
accused. Our constitution guarantees the right to due process. 
Secretary Cardona must protect students who have survived sexual 
assault and uphold the ability of the accused to use the same 
constitutional rights enjoyed by his boss and notable other Democrat 
elites.
    There are good reasons why the word education does not appear in 
the Constitution. Education is done best when it is handled at the 
local level. The Department of Education is incompetent. The solution 
is not more of the same, which is what the President's budget 
represents, but less of what has sidetracked our country's educational 
system--the Department of Education itself.
    I look forward to hearing how Secretary Cardona will reverse course 
and empower families to make the educational decisions that are best 
for them.
                                 ______
                                 
    Ms. Foxx. I look forward to hearing how Secretary Cardona 
will reverse course and empower families to make the 
educational decisions that are best for them. With that Mr. 
Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you and without objection all other 
Members who wish to insert written statements in the record may 
do so by submitting them to the Committee Clerk electronically 
in Microsoft Word format by 5 p.m. on July 8th, 2021. I'll now 
welcome our witness. The Honorable Miguel Cardona is the 12th 
Secretary of the Department of Education. Previously he served 
as Commissioner of Education for the State of Connecticut, and 
before that he had two decades of experience as a public-school 
educator in his hometown of Meriden, Connecticut.
    Mr. Secretary, we appreciate your participating today and 
look forward to your testimony. Your written statement will 
appear in full in the hearing record and you're asked to limit 
your oral presentation to a five-minute summary. After your 
presentation, we'll move to Member questions. Insofar as our 
witness is aware of his responsibilities to provide accurate 
information to the Committee, we'll now proceed directly with 
his testimony. Mr. Secretary.

  STATEMENT OF MIGUEL CARDONA, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
                           EDUCATION

    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. Good morning, Chair Scott, 
Ranking Member Foxx, and distinguished Members of the 
Committee. This past year, we've had plenty of quantitative 
data on the effects of the pandemic around the country, whether 
it's cases per 100,000 deaths or more recently a percentage 
vaccinated. We have a snapshot of the challenges we face. 
However, it helps to connect people and faces to numbers.
    I recently had a conversation with a high school student at 
Harvey Milk High School in New York City. His story really 
stood out to me. He lost his grandmother to COVID-19 and his 
significant other to suicide in the last 10 months. As he 
returned to school, something that he said he was very much 
looking forward to, he asked me to ensure that he and all 
students across the country would walk into welcoming 
environments free from judgment, with mental health support to 
address the trauma they experienced.
    He shared that while he missed a lot academically, he was 
hopeful that the school could provide the support he needed to 
catch up and thrive. And that is why I'm here today, for 
students like him and others that need more when they return. 
I'm proud to testify about the policies and priorities of the 
Department of Education, including our Fiscal Year 2022 budget 
request that makes good on President Biden's commitment to 
invest in education.
    It also begins to address the significant inequities that 
students, primarily students of color and students with 
disabilities, confront every day in schools, and in pursuit of 
higher education and career technical education. I want to 
thank the Members of the Committee who helped ensure passage of 
the American Rescue Plan, bringing vital resources to our 
schools and colleges across the country.
    These funds will ensure that schools reopen for full-time 
in-person learning as safely and as quickly as possible. I come 
to you today with a great sense of urgency. Generations of 
inequity have left far too many students without equitable 
access to high quality inclusive learning opportunities, 
including in our rural communities. Sadly, this has become 
normalized.
    Education can be the great equalizer. It was for me and so 
many of you on this call right now. If we prioritize, we 
replicate and we reinvest in what works for all students. We 
must do more to level the playing field, including providing a 
strong foundation from birth, improving diversity among the 
teacher workforce, and creating learning pathways that work for 
all students.
    To that end, the budget proposal calls on Congress to 
invest nearly 103 billion in the Department of Education's 
programs, a 41 percent increase over the Fiscal Year 2021 
appropriation. The Fiscal Year 2022 request also makes a 
meaningful down payment toward the Biden-Harris 
administration's goal of addressing inequities. The centerpiece 
of the proposal is a new $20 billion Title I equity grants 
program that tackles disparities between under-resourced 
schools and their wealthier counterparts. It supports 
competitive compensation for teachers in Title I schools, 
expands access to pre-kindergarten, and increases preparation 
for and access to success in rigorous course work.
    Our request puts the Nation on a path to double the number 
of school counselors, nurses, and mental health professionals 
in our schools, and significantly expands support for community 
schools, to increase availability of those wrap-around services 
that we know our students need.
    We also think it's past time for the Federal Government to 
make good on its commitment to students with disabilities and 
their families. The request makes a significant move toward 
fully funding IDEA, proposing a 20 percent increase of $2.6 
billion to states.
    Turning to higher education, an area that we all know needs 
immediate attention, our budget proposal furthers the Biden-
Harris administration's work to increase access and 
affordability to students. The proposal coupled with the 
increase proposed in the American Families Plan, would be the 
largest ever Pell grant increase, helping millions of students 
and families. Importantly, it ensures that Dreamers may receive 
Pell grants if they meet the eligibility requirements.
    Through the American Families Plan, our budget proposal 
provides 2 years of free community college to first time 
students and those wishing to reskill. It also makes college 
more affordable for low-and middle-income students at 4-year 
HBCUs, tribal colleges and minority-serving institutions, as 
well as Hispanic-serving institutions and Asian American and 
Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions.
    The budget also proposes increases for TRIO and GEAR UP 
programs to make sure underserved students succeed and graduate 
from college. Finally, we prioritized efforts to enforce civil 
rights laws related to education, to protect all students and 
advance equity in the educational opportunity and delivery, 
pre-school through college.
    Working together, we can and will heal, learn, and grow 
through this challenging time. I'm committed to working 
collaboratively with each of you to strengthen our schools and 
campuses, and help provide opportunities, pathways, and 
outcomes for students across the country. Thank you, and I look 
forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Secretary Cardona follows:]

               Prepared Statement of Hon. Miguel Cardona
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Now we 
will now proceed with Member questions. Under Committee Rule 
9(a), we will now question witnesses under the five-minute 
rule, and I'll be recognizing Committee Members in seniority 
order. Now last week, I tried to enforce the five-minute rule 
and--but even although several Members yielded, didn't use all 
their time, we still averaged almost six minutes per Member.
    We have 50 Members, so if we do that again that will be 
almost an hour over our allotted time. I'll remind Members that 
the five-minute rule is supposed to include both the question 
and the answer, so please refrain from beginning a question 
with just a few seconds left, because that guarantees that any 
coherent answer will go well past the allotted five minutes. 
With that, we'll begin with the gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. 
Courtney.
    Mr. Courtney. Well thank you Mr. Chairman and good morning, 
Mr. Secretary. It is very tempting to spend my five minutes to 
sort of tell, allow you to tell the story of your journey 
through life to get you to the place where you are today.
    Again, you are, as the Chair alluded, a product of public 
schools, public higher education, in the classroom teacher, 
principal, local superintendent. I mean you; your DNA is right 
in the heart of the Department of Education, and we are all so 
proud of you in the State of Connecticut. Your Congresswoman, 
Jahana Hayes, I'm sure will double down when she gets the 
opportunity.
    But, you know, we're not here for a walk down memory lane; 
we're here to talk about the future. This budget, having been 
on this Committee since 2007, the investments in Title I, 
special education finally, impact aid.
    I have a military district as you know and impact aid is 
very important for those military kids to get the education 
that, you know, their parents wearing the uniform really are 
entitled to, as well as investing in magnet schools, which as 
you know in the State of Connecticut Sheff v. O'Neill's anti-
discrimination or anti-segregation decision, you know, the 
magnet school strategy is instrumental in terms of breaking 
down racial isolation. I mean it is just a really amazing 
budget.
    But I did want to just sort of spend a minute on an issue 
that President Biden, one of the first executive orders, was 
that he pushed out the pause on student loan payments, direct 
student loan payments. That cliff or that moment is fast 
approaching at the end of September. Yesterday myself, 
Congresswoman Pressley, Senator Warren and 60 other Members, 
many of whom are on this Committee, sent a letter to the 
President thanking him for that pause, but you know obviously 
there's a lot of moving parts.
    You're grappling with what your legal authorities are 
regarding student loan debt. I realize the letter is less than 
24 hours old, so I'm not trying to put you on the spot here. 
But I hope again you can sort of talk a little bit about, you 
know, the Department and hopefully you'll give some 
consideration to pushing out the pause for another three or 4 
months, which is what the letter requested.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman Courtney, and 
it's nice to see you. You know, we recognize the impact that 
the pandemic had on our borrowers, and extending the pause is 
something that, you know, we have had conversations about. We 
recognize again the challenge that it is. To date, the pause 
has saved over $5 billion for borrowers a month, 41 million 
borrowers.
    Just yesterday, I spoke to a young doctor who said that 
that pause helped him make a decision to open up a business 
and, you know, he credited the pause as part of the reason why 
he was able to do that. So I recognize that. We are continuing 
conversations regularly, to make sure that we're factoring all 
different things. I appreciate your sentiment and I recognize 
that the challenge has been for those who have debt, thinking 
about that date coming up soon.
    We do plan on having information soon to communicate, you 
know. Restarting right now it's on September 30th. But we do 
have in our immediate plans, we want to communicate the 
information out there.
    Mr. Courtney. Well thank you, and you know again, first of 
all, the Department did move swiftly to protect the defrauded 
student loan borrowers or ITT Tech and, you know, we have some 
of those borrowers from Connecticut. Thank you for that swift 
action.
    One other problem area, and again the last administration 
butchered the public service loan forgiveness processing which 
was started in the last 4 years. One community that again is 
really struggling with this program is military veterans and 
active duty who have student loan debt, that qualified under 
the law that was passed back in 2007. But their deployment time 
where they get for parents when they're overseas, was not 
counted toward the 10-year tally to get student loan 
discharged.
    Myself and a number of Members have introduced legislation 
to fix that problem. Again, there are many other folks who are 
struggling with this program, and I hope that will be one of 
the areas of concentration, to fix what's already on the books.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. It definitely will be. When 
we have a system that rejects 98 percent of those who apply, it 
needs an overhaul. I'm very interested in making sure that we 
provide results and soon. We hired Rich Cordray recently and 
his charge is to fix that system. And it's not only public 
service loan forgiveness that needs work; the entire student 
loan debt crisis needs a lot of attention.
    We haven't been sitting idle on it. We've, you know, 
provided some relief, over two, three billion dollars. But 
there's so much more to do. This is the highest priority for 
us, and we definitely want to work with you and others to make 
sure that we're not missing out on any who didn't benefit from 
it and don't want to overlook anyone. This is a high priority 
for me. Those students deserve to be supported and defended as 
borrowers, so that they can go on with life and not have this 
heavy burden of debt holding them down.
    Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, go Huskies.
    Secretary Cardona. Yes.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Our next Member will be the 
gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson.
    Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Chairman Bobby Scott, and thank you 
Secretary for being with us today. Mr. Secretary, on November 
13th, 2020, the Department of Education under the Trump 
administration published in the Registrar, quote ``The 
Department has the authority to implement a range of corrective 
measures for an institution that violates its program 
participation agreement, including termination of the 
institution's Title IV participation.''
    This statement was related to an institution failing to 
report Section 117 information of gifts and donations timely 
and accurately, which was to address what Ranking Member 
Virginia Foxx has already identified, and that is the Chinese 
government-sponsored Confucius Institutes strategically located 
at research institutions across America.
    Given that many institutions are failing to comply with the 
reporting requirements under Section 117 of the Higher 
Education Act, can you commit to acting on your own authority 
as Secretary to hold schools accountable who fail to comply 
with the law? How will you ensure that higher education system 
is protected from the influence of adversarial nations?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Representative Wilson. We 
take these issues very seriously as you do, and I commit to 
making sure that we're attentive to what the concerns are and 
working with you and others to make sure that we're using our 
authority to ensure appropriate actions and to look into this 
issue further.
    Mr. Wilson. Thank you. Well we look forward to full 
disclosure and it's to the benefit of everyone, the 
institutions, students, and our relations with countries around 
the world. Additionally, Mr. Secretary, as you were identifying 
billions of dollars of more spending. More spending may not be 
the only way to help our students. In New York City, the 
average spending per student is $37,000 a year. But sadly, high 
school graduates, only 6 percent graduate achieving proficiency 
in math. How do you recommend changing systems that spend 
astronomical amount of money to benefit the students?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. As a lifelong educator, I 
recognize two things. No. 1, there has been an under-investment 
in education. I recall having this every year a conversation 
about having to do more with less. Students come in with 
greater need, but we have less resources. That's No. 1.
    No. 2, it's critically important that we have a good return 
on investment for every dollar spent in education. So for me, 
it's really about ensuring that funds are aimed toward the 
students that need it most, and I mean I don't have to remind 
anyone on this call that the pandemic exacerbated opportunity 
gaps and access to learning for many students, in particular 
students in urban areas and students in rural areas.
    But also, I think it's really important to recognize that 
we have an obligation to ensure outcomes with the funds that 
are being distributed. The American Rescue Plan, we expect that 
states submit, you know, communication on what they're going to 
use the plan, the funds for, equity being one of them, and 
ensuring that they're getting input from different 
stakeholders.
    So I recognize your concern and I can assure you that we 
will work closely with states and districts, to make sure that 
our students who are in greatest need get the support that they 
need, and that the outcomes follow.
    Mr. Wilson. Additionally, charter high schools make up just 
10 percent of the country's nearly 24,000 public high schools. 
But they comprise 24 percent of the top 100 public high 
schools. In the most recent budget that the administration has, 
there's a restriction on ability to fund charter schools. What 
will you be doing to address that and give choice?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. You know the funds, the 
proposal that we have here does not cut funds for charter 
schools. It level funds them, and we recognize the role that 
charter schools play in our country. And for me it's about 
quality schools, whether they're charter or traditional 
schools, ensuring quality schools, quality programming for all 
students.
    Mr. Wilson. But you say there's level funding. Gee whiz, 
the other spending was like a 44 percent increase. Gosh 
that's--where programs are working, we need to be investing and 
hey, I'm really grateful. My wife is a former teacher and 
taught hey, in alternative schools. So we know what can be 
given, giving young people a second chance.
    And so over and over we've got examples of progress, but I 
want to wish you well and I'm just really grateful that the 
communities I represent have really wonderful school boards 
doing a great job. I yield back.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next is the gentleman from the 
Northern Mariana Islands, Mr. Sablan.
    Mr. Sablan. Yes, thank you very much Chairman Scott for 
holding--and Ranking Member Foxx for holding this hearing. Mr. 
Secretary welcome, and I look forward to working with you very 
closely as we proceed with the President Biden's 
administration's priorities on education. But Mr. Secretary, 
studies show that children in preschool are more academically 
and socially prepared for kindergarten than their peers who did 
not attend.
    As Chair of the Early Childhood Elementary and Secondary 
Education Subcommittee, I am pleased that the Biden 
administration has made providing access to this learning, 
early learning programs a top priority. President Biden's 
American Families Plan proposes universal quality preschool for 
all three-and 4-year-olds.
    Additionally, the budget calls for an additional 175 
million for preschool development grants, which has helped my 
district, the Northern Marianas and other districts expand high 
quality preschool programs. So Mr. Secretary, could you speak 
to the importance of these proposals and how they will further 
benefit children and families across our Nation please?
    Secretary Cardona. Sure. Thank you for this opportunity. I 
remember serving as a school principal and we had programs for 
students as young as 3 years old, and we saw the growth that 
took place in those 2 years. And then I saw students come into 
kindergarten that didn't have the benefit of programs like the 
quality program we offered, and I can tell you that those--many 
of those students had a need for intervention that was much 
greater.
    Many of those students didn't enjoy school as much as those 
students who did have the benefit of having quality early 
childhood program, where you can develop executive functioning 
skills, social skills and basic numeracy and literacy skills, 
but more importantly their social and emotional skill. We know, 
studies show students are able to have more success in middle 
and high school. They're more likely to attend, participate in 
higher level courses and go on, and we know that the return on 
investment, some studies have it as much as 7 to 1.
    So I think for us it's an investment. For any educator that 
teaches in the early childhood years, they can tell you about 
the benefits for these young learners, and the foundation that 
it sets for their growth. I think that can't be overstated. I 
can tell you also that I've seen where it costs more to 
intervene because there's not a good foundation. So this 
American Families Plan proposal to provide pre-K for three and 
4 year-olds to me is a great way to make sure that our students 
have a quality education.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, thank you and you know, I was just--
I'm here and I don't--I think you're nearby your offices, and 
if you look out the window Mr. Secretary, it's just such a 
beautiful day. I'm glad that we are returning to normal. I'm 
glad that we look forward to schools reopening for face-to-face 
instructions in September, and also, I will follow that with an 
issue Mr. Secretary, that the President's Fiscal Year 1922 
budget calls for a 62 percent increase in K to 12 education 
investment.
    A critical component of this investments is Title 1A, which 
has provided resources to deliver high quality education to 
Mariana students and those in other economically disadvantaged 
areas or poor communities. And it is long overdue for a funding 
boost, a view shared by many of my colleagues on this 
Committee, which joined my call to fund Title 1A at $36-1/2 
billion.
    Mr. Secretary, as we look forward to reopening schools, as 
we look forward to seeing children running around and playing 
in the school yards, why are these investments needed now after 
the significant investments Congress has made in K through 12 
education through the CARES Act, the 2021 Corona Response and 
Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue 
Plan?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. We know the pandemic did a 
number on many communities, densely populated communities, 
communities where there are mostly people of color. You know, 
recent data shows that in April, even in those communities 
where in-person learning options were made available, only 50 
percent of black and brown students took advantage and only 40 
percent of Asian students took advantage in Grades 4 and 8.
    What that tells us is that as much as we'd like to think 
the pandemic is over, we still have work to do to build 
confidence and ensure that our students are getting into the 
classroom. But as you know, there is no substitute for in-
person learning, and when those students do return, they're 
going to have not only more academic needs. So these Title I 
funds really are aimed at closing those gaps that were 
exacerbated, but they're also going to have needed to support 
the trauma that they experienced.
    As I said earlier, the mortality rate in those communities 
was also higher. So there's a lot of work to do to not only get 
our students to be prepared for learning and make up whatever 
was lost, but also to build back better. Because in those same 
communities, Congressman, in those same communities the gaps 
existed for decades, outcome gaps which was mentioned earlier 
in a question. So we have to do more to give our students an 
opportunity to succeed in life.
    Mr. Sablan. Mr. Secretary my time is up, but I'd like to 
say personally on this hearing with you is that we need, that 
the information you share with us is such a breath of fresh air 
compared to your predecessor. I am dead serious about this. But 
welcome, congratulations on your confirmation and I look 
forward, really look forward to working with you sir.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, sir, as do I.
    Mr. Sablan. My time is over, I exceeded, so I apologize.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The next speaker is the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson.
    Mr. Thompson. Chairman, thank you so much and thank you for 
this hearing, and Mr. Secretary thank you for being here today. 
Much appreciated. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 
which was reauthorized through the 'Every Student Succeeds 
Act,? provides obviously extensive resources and funding for K 
through 12 education.
    As you know, Title I of this legislation distributes 
funding to local educational agencies to improve the 
achievement of disadvantaged children, children that find 
themselves in poverty circumstances, a huge impact on learning. 
However, the current formula has the perverse effect of 
diverting funds from high poverty LEAs to lower poverty LEAs 
regardless of the actual poverty rates.
    To fix this, I introduced legislation that address these 
inequities in the formula by reducing the number, reducing the 
effect of number weighting, which inflates allocations under 
the current system to larger districts, even though they tend 
to be in suburban areas with more robust economic 
circumstances. While this legislation did not become law, ESSA 
required the Department of Education to look into this matter 
further.
    As such, in 2019 the National Center for Education 
Statistics released a report on how this formula affect various 
types of school districts. The report stated what we already 
knew. Schools received Title I allocations based on their 
location or their zip code, rather than the actual need of 
children. So Mr. Secretary, I'm curious to know your thoughts 
on the current Title I formula, and do you believe that 
children should receive equitable funds under the law 
regardless of their geographic location?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman, for the question 
and for the comments. I wholeheartedly agree with you that the 
intent of the Title I funds are really to help level the 
playing field and for those students who need more. They need a 
little bit extra. So in this proposal, we are proposing a $20 
billion increase, and the formula for that will complement 
Title IA, but we are really thinking about how to work with our 
partners, including yourself and others, to see where it's 
needed the most.
    The pandemic did a number. I can tell you the stories that 
I've heard from rural communities was devastating, about how 
the digital divide really prevented access. We know that some 
communities were hit harder by the pandemic than others. So I'm 
very interested in ensuring that the funds go to where they're 
most needed. That's what the President's intent was with this 
budget, with the American Families Plan, with the American 
Rescue Plan, and I understand your commitment to making sure 
the students that need it the most get it.
    I'm committed to doing that and working with you to make 
sure that that happens sir.
    Mr. Thompson. Mr. Secretary, I appreciate that. I look 
forward to working with you, and this truly is a strongly 
bipartisan initiative. This passed with bipartisan support in 
the House version of the ESSA, and it kind of got watered down 
to a study because of our colleagues in the Senate. So it was a 
strong bipartisan work, and I look forward to working with you 
on that.
    As the co-Chair of the bipartisan Career and Technical 
Education Caucus, passage of the Strengthening Career and 
Technical Education Act with the 21st Century Act in July 2018 
was one of my proudest moments as a Member of Congress. This 
legislation went into effect in July 2019 and bolstered our 
Nation's CTE system by increasing alignment with in-demand 
jobs, improving employer engagement so that more students have 
opportunities to move into, you know, into in demand jobs and 
successful careers.
    Can you provide an update for the Committee on the 
implementation of this law, and how funding provided through 
the stimulus packages in the past year, the past year and half 
I'd say has supported career and technical education 
opportunities?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that, and I share your 
support for career and technical education. Having graduated 
from a technical high school and just understanding how we need 
to evolve in education, to make sure that we have pathways into 
the workforce and that we have partnerships with our workforce 
partners to ensure that our students have multiple options, 
including 2-year, 4-year colleges, but also pathways to jobs 
that exist now, high-paying jobs that exist now.
    I'm excited about the opportunity, and I look forward to 
working with you and communicating with you on the progress of 
that plan and what we plan on doing moving forward. So I look 
forward to having followup with you on that, and also sharing 
that this is in alignment with the President's vision for the 
budget. There are funds, 1.47 billion discretionary request to 
increase career and technical education.
    We recognize that this is where we're going as a country 
and it is a bipartisan effort that I know having met someone 
that doesn't think that this is something we need to do and do 
well. So I'm excited about working with you and others to make 
sure that all of our students across the country have great 
options, great pathways. We need to start as early as middle 
school to make sure that we're designed for success. I look 
forward to working with you on this sir.
    Mr. Thompson. I appreciate that and look forward to talking 
with you offline about that one billion in new mandatory 
funding, and just looking to see how that may line up with or 
not, with the State grants authorized under Title I of Perkins 
V. So thank you so much. Thank you, Chairman.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next, we have the gentlelady 
from Florida who's a former principal, Ms. Wilson.
    Ms. Wilson. Still a principal, always a principal. Thank 
you, Mr. Chair and thank you, so much Secretary Cardona for 
making time to join us today. I have so many questions and so 
many ideas. I'm going to submit them for the record as we 
move--when I run out of time.
    The past year has disrupted the education of millions of 
students and placed a tremendous strain on our students, 
parents, and our teachers. At my last meeting, I realized that 
there are three million children still missing from our public 
schools. No one knows where these children are.
    And as Chair of the Higher Education and Workforce 
Investment Subcommittee, I held a hearing earlier this year to 
examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher 
education. The historic investments made in our education 
system, including through the American Rescue Plan prove that 
Congress can and should do more to address long, long-standing 
inequities and funding imbalances.
    We can help close the 23 billion racial funding gap that 
exists between school districts serving students of color and 
those serving predominantly white students, promote universal 
access to an affordable, quality higher education and provide 
relief to the 45 million borrowers who hold roughly $1.7 
trillion in student loan debt.
    The proposed Fiscal Year 2020 (sic) budget is an excellent 
starting point to tackle these generational issues. I do have a 
few questions. I am concerned about the raging, raging of 
mental health issues in our school districts and in our 
colleges and universities. I want to know how will the 
Department of Education help and support our school districts 
with providing additional counselors, nurses, opening up 
schools safely, K through 12 schools safely for teachers and 
students, incentivizing vaccinations, opening colleges and 
universities safely and a smoother transition between 
elementary, K-12 to college? There's a huge line of demarcation 
there.
    Supporting Black men and boys in their path of higher 
education has been my life's work, and I need to find out from 
you, not today but as we converse, how to increase higher 
education access to--for black men and boys, which research has 
shown there's a disproportionate burden on them. Also, I was 
happy to hear you say that student loan, forgiveness of student 
loan debt and support of moving forward to erase student loan 
debt was at the top of your agenda.
    But one specific move that I want to ask you a question 
about is the Student Defense Through the Freedom of Information 
Act. There are roughly 500,000 borrowers with a proven legal 
right to have over $8 billion in student loans canceled under 
the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Program.
    The Department already knows the identity of these 
borrowers. What steps are you taking to ensure these borrowers 
obtain relief as quickly and as easily as possible? I would 
like to get you to today to commit to do everything in your 
power to expedite the discharge for these 500,000 Americans 
with disabilities.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congresswoman Wilson. Your 
passion and for your service as a principal, one of the best 
jobs out there. You know, you mentioned so many different 
important topics. I can assure you that this budget and our 
goals are to increase aid for high poverty schools, to advance 
equity in education including higher education access, expands 
access to college through Powell and supporting underserved 
students, over 600 million toward the HBCUs.
    We have to make critical investments in teachers, in school 
leaders and in mental health supports. As the student from 
Harvey Milk High School who spoke to me said, I'm going to need 
help, I'm going to need access to mental health support, I 
experienced a lot, and it's on us to make sure we're 
delivering. The American Rescue Plan provides funds for that. 
In the budget there's a billion dollars to double school 
counselors.
    And with regard to your question on total and permanent 
disability, we restored discharges for 41,000 borrowers and 
have a total--who have a total and permanent disability. Then 
we've lowered the reinstatement risk for another 190,000.
    But I will, I will commit to ensuring that this will 
continue to be a priority, that we'll continue to work with you 
and others to make sure we're communicating what we are doing, 
but to prioritize the needs of our borrowers who after this 
crisis do need support. Thank you.
    Ms. Wilson. Thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next, we'll have the gentleman 
from Michigan, Mr. Walberg.
    Mr. Walberg. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Secretary 
thank you, for being here. It's very clear from your 
statements, your history that you have a passion for education, 
and I like that. A passion that wants to focus students on 
achieving. But having said with all due respect as well, 
similar comments that I made to your predecessor, my good 
friend and Michiganian Betsy DeVos, the Department of 
Education, the Federal Department of Education is set up to 
fail.
    It has been set up to fail from the very beginning, because 
it was set up to control and you as a classroom teacher, 
administrator understand that the creativity of education, the 
ability to meet the needs of individual students, comes at the 
local level. The states are set up in their constitutions and 
their responsibilities to promote education for all that's 
good.
    And so I say this with all due respect, I wish you well, 
but I think the best thing you could do is remove, remove the 
U.S. Department of Education from as many areas of controlling 
what goes on at the classroom level, at our teachers' level and 
our states as much as possible. I think it's evidenced by a lot 
of turmoil that's taking place in the education world now 
relative to some of the curriculum.
    Mr. Secretary, you proposed grant priorities under the 
American History and Civics Education Programs that among other 
things endorse the 1619 Project. It's, as you know it's become 
a major issue. Do you agree that the 1619 Project is a 
curriculum taught in schools?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for your comments. First of 
all, as an educator I do agree that the innovation and best 
practices and decisions around what students need is best left 
to the local districts and the State. We don't, we don't get 
involved in curricular issues. We don't recommend, mandate, and 
as an educator who has had experience in the classroom, 
building leader at a local and State level, I recognize that 
that's where it should be. However--
    Mr. Walberg. Let me just move back to the question. Do you 
agree that the 1619 Project is a curriculum taught in schools?
    Secretary Cardona. I don't, we don't get involved as a 
Federal Government in monitoring curriculum in schools. I think 
that's a State responsibility, so I couldn't answer whether or 
not it is being taught in schools.
    What I can tell you is that we don't have a role, but as an 
educator I will tell you that I've heard from educators, I've 
heard from students, from parents that when students see 
themselves in the curriculum, they're more likely to be engaged 
and they're more likely to feel comfortable and feel a sense of 
community and that schools are providing, as Dr. Rudine Simms 
Bishop calls, ``windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors.'' 
They see themselves in the curriculum and see others--
    Mr. Walberg. But let me jump back in.
    Secretary Cardona. Sure.
    Mr. Walberg. You in your grant proposal indicated the 1619 
Project there. The law prohibits, the law clearly prohibits the 
Department of Education from prescribing direct curriculum and 
offering payments for it. Section 103(b) of the Department of 
Education Organization Act, Section 438 of the General 
Education Provisions Act, Section 8527 of Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act. Will you retract your proposed grant 
priorities in order to comply with the Federal law?
    Secretary Cardona. We shouldn't lose sight of the bigger 
issue here. We're not promoting curriculum. We are 
communicating that districts and states have the responsibility 
to do that. We don't also want to be engaged in the 
politicizing of curriculum. So we recognize our role, and we'll 
stay true to our role, which is not to engage ourselves in 
local curriculum.
    Mr. Walberg. But you have signaled a desire for that 
curriculum by the grant proposal that you have there. That's 
our concern, and I would encourage you to live by the law and 
not violate it. That's a concern that I think is very important 
for you to understand, and even in interviews you've done in 
Atlanta, you said I'm signaling that we need a curriculum, and 
then you changed and said or that we need to allow educators to 
develop curriculum, where students see themselves in it and 
where diverse perspectives are shared.
    I concur with the desire to see diverse perspectives. 1619 
Project is not a diverse perspective. It defames the history of 
the United States, but more importantly the Department of 
Education by law is precluded from doing that and prohibited 
from signaling, proposing, or granting for those proposals. So 
Mr. Secretary, I want to work with you on that, but we will be 
watching there and hope that you'll follow the law. I yield 
back.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next the gentlelady from Oregon, 
Ms. Bonamici.
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you so much Chairman Scott and Ranking 
Member Foxx, and thank you Secretary Cardona for being here 
today, to discuss some of the most important issues facing our 
Nation's children and youth and'Secretary Cardona, I am 
thrilled to have a public-school champion leading our efforts. 
Especially important now as we are helping families, students, 
educators, and our families recover from the pandemic.
    There are many critical issues in this committee's 
jurisdiction and thank you for your commitment to increase IDEA 
funding, your support for early childhood education and more. 
But because of time I'm going to focus on two issues, the 
importance of the Every Student Succeeds Act Title IV(a) 
grants, especially in helping to close the achievement gap, and 
then the second issue is supporting student loan borrowers.
    So, we know that the pandemic exacerbated existing 
inequities and you talked about that this morning, and widened 
the achievement gap especially for Black, indigenous and Latinx 
students. We know that students benefit from a well-rounded 
education that includes the arts. You talked about that.
    The Student Support and Academic Enrichment or SSAE grant 
program under Title IV(a) of ESSA is important because those 
grants fund well-rounded education they fund safe and healthy 
students. And that includes mental health and trauma-informed 
practices, and they fund technology.
    So in the President's Fiscal Year 1922 budget, the Title 
IV(a) grant program would receive flat funding even though the 
needs have increased. In fact, I've led a bipartisan Title 
IV(a) appropriations letter again this year, and we are 
recommending $2 billion, which is more than the President's--
[inaudible].
    So Mr. Secretary, how will the administration strengthen 
access to well-rounded education and close achievement gaps and 
meet those important needs of technology and student health, 
and also how will the Department provide technical assistance 
to states--[inaudible]--to make sure that Every Student 
Succeeds Act is implemented as intended?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that question. We share 
your passion and concern for all students and their enrichment, 
as well as their mental health needs. The budget does have one 
billion toward doubling down on the number of school counselors 
and social workers to address the needs of our students and our 
staff.
    I think we can't ignore the fact that our educators have 
also gone through trauma, and we're asking them to go back into 
the workplace and support our learners who have experienced 
trauma, and we have to make sure we're taking care of our 
educators, our para educators, our bus drivers. We've 
experienced this together; we're going to heal together.
    So with regard to the Title IV, we recognize your question 
and also understand that in the American Rescue Plans, funds 
are made available to support innovative programming, whether 
it's through summer programming which should look very 
different than your traditional summer school. I said in one 
location I'd love for this to be a did-free summer for our 
students across the country.
    So that American Rescue Plan are there for innovative 
programming into the fall, into the upcoming school year. I 
know educators recognize that we, in order to build back 
better, have to really double down on innovation and ensuring 
that students have access to acceleration, to creative 
programming. You know, in my conversations with educators, I've 
visited about 10 different, 10 or 11 different states.
    That's what I keep hearing, that we cannot go back to what 
it was before. So I anticipate that funding that is being made 
available to schools is fueling innovation, it's fueling 
creative measures to get students re-engaged in ways that we 
haven't in the past. That's the charge for educators across the 
country, and I believe we can do it. I look forward to working 
with you to make sure that your goals and your hopes for what 
we want to see out of Title IV come to reality, and maybe 
sharing some examples of great practices across the country as 
well.
    Ms. Bonamici. OK. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I know you've 
mentioned student loans, and to followup on Chairwoman Wilson's 
questions, you know, we know the student loan borrowers have 
been saddled with unimaginable debt, and that was true even 
before, unmanageable sorry, even before the pandemic. Now we're 
facing these, sort of emerging crises. The pandemic repayment 
solutions that are unworkable. I want to mention the Public 
Service Loan Forgiveness Program that--[inaudible]--repayment 
plans.
    The student borrowers face that cliff of repayment with the 
forbearance scheduled to end in September if not extended. And 
along with Mr. Courtney, I do support that extension. So what 
is the Department doing to support student borrowers as they 
transition back to repayment, and will these measures be made 
permanent to improve repayment programs in the long term, which 
I think is the critical part of this question, for short-term 
and long-term relief.
    Secretary Cardona. Sure. First and foremost, we have to 
change the culture of what it is. Right now, it's broken, and 
we have to recognize that it needs an overhaul. Public Service 
Loan Forgiveness, you know, borrower defense and making sure 
that our--those with total permanent disabilities have the 
support and relief that they need, that they deserve.
    We're communicating regularly with borrowers. We're making 
processes a lot simpler. You know, I remember meeting with 
borrowers recently. I had a phone conference with them, and I 
was getting frustrated by the end of the call with the level of 
hoops that they had to jump through. That's unacceptable. We 
need to do better. We have Richard Cordray on there now, and 
the charge is really let's not do incremental change. Let's 
make sure that we're servicing our students, our borrowers, 
putting them at the center of the conversations, thinking about 
how our policies look from the perspective of the borrower.
    We need to do better and we're going to communicate with 
them regularly, not only to share what we're doing but also to 
listen, to see how the experience is going to make it better 
continuously.
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and Mr. Chairman as 
I yield back, I request unanimous consent to enter into the 
hearing record an article from Oregon Public Broadcasting that 
mentions Mr. Mike Schofield from Beaverton, Oregon. He's an 
assistant superintendent, saying that the challenges of 
providing school services during the past year are 
unprecedented, and fortunately so was the Federal funding from 
the American Rescue Plan, and critical in closing gaps, and I 
yield back. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you, thank you. Next, we have the 
gentlelady from New York, Ms. Stefanik.
    Ms. Stefanik. Yes. Thank you, Chairman Scott. Secretary 
Cardona, students in rural communities have a higher high 
school graduation rate, yet they are less likely to enroll in 
post-secondary education, and those who do enroll they often 
face unique barriers that make them more likely to drop out 
without completing their education. Addressing this attainment 
gap will go a long way in unleashing the untapped economic 
potential of rural America.
    And in the final fiscal year 1921 appropriations bill, I 
was proud to lead a bipartisan effort to secure $10 million for 
grants to support innovative locally driven approaches to 
improve rates of post-secondary enrollment and completion among 
rural students. The problem is the Department has yet to issue 
a notice inviting applications for this rural post-secondary 
and economic development grant program that funds rural 
students.
    Can you provide an update on the status of the Department's 
efforts to distribute this funding?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Representative. I share your 
passion around making sure that our students in rural areas get 
the supports that they need to have access like every other 
student. So thank you for the question. I'm going to ask my 
staff today to reach out to you and your staff to provide an 
update.
    Ms. Stefanik. That would be great, and can you commit to 
working with me and this Committee to get things moving on that 
funding?
    Secretary Cardona. Absolutely.
    Ms. Stefanik. Great. My next question has to do with 
foreign influence on college campuses. Republicans have been 
leading the fight against the malign activities of the Chinese 
Communist Party, including their corrosive influence over 
America's colleges and universities. The Trump administration 
was the first to truly hold colleges accountable for foreign 
influence on campus and uncovered over $6.5 billion of 
previously unreported foreign donations to institutions of 
higher education, which have anonymized identities of their 
donors.
    And it's not just donations. Congressional Republicans' 
China Task Force successfully highlighted the Chinese Communist 
Party's relentless efforts to influence our higher education, 
from their recruitment of U.S. academics to their theft of 
research and intellectual property at American universities. 
Just over a year ago, we learned that the Chair of Harvard's 
Chemistry Department participated in China's Thousand Talents 
Program and was charged in connection with aiding the Chinese 
Communist government.
    This should concern every American and left unchecked, 
Chinese influence on American campuses puts our national 
security at risk. So, with that in mind, Mr. Secretary, how 
does your Department plan to hold colleges and universities 
accountable to their Section 117 reporting requirements for 
foreign gifts and contracts?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Representative Stefanik. This 
is another issue that we share your concern in making sure that 
we are looking into this. I can commit that we'll work with you 
and others to listen to the concerns and be swift about 
communicating where we believe changes need to be made. I 
commit to working with you and others to make sure that we're 
looking at this.
    Ms. Stefanik. And are you going to hold the actual colleges 
and universities accountable for those reporting requirements 
in Section 117?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. If there are reporting requirements 
that need to be followed, we will hold them accountable to make 
sure that those are happening.
    Ms. Stefanik. Great, and then the other proposal I wanted 
to raise to you is that in the China Task Force, one of the 
recommendations was to lower that reporting threshold from 
$250,000 gifts to $50,000 gifts. Is that something the 
Department is committed to working with us on?
    Secretary Cardona. We're committed to working with you on 
making sure that the proposals that you put forward are 
administered and understanding more of the issue and more of 
the concerns that you have.
    Ms. Stefanik. Thank you, I yield back.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, we have a number 
of educators who will be asking questions. The gentleman from 
California is another one of those. Mr. Takano was a former 
teacher. Mr. Takano.
    Mr. Takano. Well thank you for reminding everyone of that, 
Chairman Scott. Secretary Cardona, welcome. The State attorneys 
general have historically been the first line of defense 
against predatory, for-profit colleges. For example, in 2015, 
then California Attorney General Kamala Harris, in coordination 
with the Obama administration's Department of Education, 
jointly uncovered decades of fraud at Corinthian colleges.
    However, in Secretary DeVos' final appearance before this 
Committee, she testified that the Department would not obey a 
Federal court ruling requiring the Department to consider 
evidence of fraud states attorneys general brought to the 
Department. Secretary Cardona, I want to ask you will you and 
your Department comply with Federal law and adjudicate borrower 
defense claims brought by State attorneys generals?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. We look forward to working 
closely with attorneys general and others to make sure that 
we're defending our borrowers, we're supporting our students. 
We're committed to protecting students from predatory practices 
at all institutions, period. That is going to be our focus. We 
have to be very strong with that because our borrowers right 
now, especially after the pandemic, can't afford to be taken 
advantage of or can't be victims of misconduct, in particular 
from for-profit institutions.
    So I commit that we will be working on that. We'll be 
working closely to make sure that we provide relief for those 
borrowers who are taken advantage of through misconduct of 
institutions.
    Mr. Takano. Well, with respect to complying with Federal 
law and court rulings, can we expect the Department to fall in 
line with rulings that protect students?
    Secretary Cardona. Definitely, yes.
    Mr. Takano. All right, thank you. Second, in addition to 
complying with Federal law, how are you working with State law 
enforcement to ensure that borrowers are protected by--from 
predatory for-profit colleges?
    Secretary Cardona. Well as I said earlier, you know, we're 
looking at this whole issue as a priority for us. We hired 
Richard Cordray to lead the FSA, and we're assembling a team 
who understand the importance of putting our borrowers at the 
center of the conversation and making sure that the policies 
and regulations and enforcement protect our borrowers.
    So we're going to work with our stakeholders including our 
State leaders and attorney generals, to make sure that we're 
hearing information, and we're signaling also to the lenders 
and to all institutions that we're monitoring this and that 
we're going to do so with intent to protect our borrowers. 
That's going to be the messaging you're going to be seeing.
    As you know, we're trying to assemble a team in that 
office. We have Richard Cordray. We're waiting on a couple of 
others. But that's a priority for us at the Department.
    Mr. Takano. Well, I understand the messaging, the intent by 
the messages. But I hope there will be action and enforcement 
and protection. Last week, the Department of Education 
announced it was adding two new categories of borrower defense 
claims that would result in 18,000 borrowers who attended the 
failed for-profit ITT Technical Institute, receiving $500 
million of debt forgiveness. 18,000 borrowers receiving $500 
million of debt forgiveness.
    ITT Tech lied to those borrowers regarding their employment 
prospects and their ability to transfer credits. What will debt 
relief mean for these borrowers, Mr. Secretary?
    Secretary Cardona. It means--it will mean a lot. It will 
let them go on and buy their homes, let them move on with their 
lives. You know this burden of debt, especially if you were 
taken advantage of and you weren't even able to finish your 
degree, puts these borrowers in a really bad position. And I 
want to be very clear, we haven't been sitting idle. We've 
provided $1.5 billion relief through borrower defense. We've 
delivered for the 72,000 borrowers that needed that relief.
    We also approved 500 million in new discharges for 18,000 
borrowers who attended ITT, as you mentioned. So we're 
continuing to push here. We recognize it's a priority. Every 
opportunity that we have to either provide discharges or relief 
we will, and we're sending messages.
    I think we're not just waiting for the public, for the loan 
forgiveness decision to be made. We're doing what we can to 
provide relief to our borrowers who have been taken advantage 
of, and we're going to continue to do that.
    Mr. Takano. Mr. Secretary, in the time that I have, for the 
time we have remaining, how does this step fit within the 
Department's overall work to stop unscrupulous for-profits from 
harming students in the first place, not letting them get into 
debt?
    Secretary Cardona. We're going to be monitoring it closely. 
We're advocating for those who are being taken advantage of. 
When we talk about equity and access, we need to make sure we 
stop bleeding, but also address the issues that result, those 
symptoms that result when we have students taken advantage of.
    Mr. Takano. Thank you, I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. I notice that the gentleman from 
Wisconsin has returned. The gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. 
Grothman.
    Mr. Grothman. We never left; I don't think.
    Chairman Scott. I didn't see you, I'm sorry.
    Mr. Grothman. But that's OK. I'm glad you noticed me. OK 
Mr. Secretary, I've got a question for you. I can never 
remember a time in my public life in which parents and 
grandparents are more concerned about curriculum in American 
education, be it K-12 or universities.
    You issued proposed priorities for American History and 
Civics Education classes. Within these priorities, you 
approvingly quoted the Professor Ibram X. Kendi's book, ``How 
to be an Anti-Racist.'' He argued for what he calls an anti-
racist amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He says that among 
other things, the amendment should establish a Department of 
Anti-Racism to monitor public officials for expressions of 
racist ideas. I mean today it seems like everybody's racist, 
monitor public officials.
    His proposed amendment would require the Department of 
Anti-Racism to pre-clear all local, State, and Federal 
policies. Mr. Secretary, do you think this is kind of a radical 
proposal or kind of inconsistent with where we should be going?
    Secretary Cardona. I want to comment that for me, it's 
really important. I reiterate at every opportunity that I have 
that the Federal Government doesn't get involved in curriculum. 
And I think it doesn't proscribe nor does it mandate. Does it 
regulate curriculum? That's left to the states and the locals. 
And I think, you know, quite frankly it's probably more 
political than it is a program. So I want to make sure that I 
make that clear every chance I have.
    Mr. Grothman. It kind of concerns me a little that you 
quote this guy. Do you, you know, I just read a little bit 
about what he's got in there. Do you understand that's radical 
and outside the mainstream or should be outside the mainstream?
    Secretary Cardona. Again, the focus for us is really giving 
districts and states the opportunity to select, and to think 
about educating. And I'll be very frank with you. You're an 
educator, right? I trust educators across the country to make 
decisions on what their communities need, and we have local 
boards for that reason. And we have State officials for that 
reason. It's really not the Federal Government's role to 
determine what gets taught.
    Mr. Grothman. I'm glad you think that way. You can 
understand why it concerns people, to have the Secretary of 
Education kind of quoting positively this professor's ideas. Do 
you have any comment on that? I mean, you know, you mentioned 
him. You mentioned him approvingly. Do you realize how radical 
and kind of how out of touch this guy is?
    Secretary Cardona. I realize educators across the country 
understand how to create a sense of community using curriculum. 
But I also don't want to miss the opportunity for educators to 
proactively communicate how important it is to provide diverse 
perspectives. Again, you know, as an educator when we have 
curriculum that brings students in and they're able to see 
other students, other stories of people who are from different 
cultures.
    It gives them an awareness of the world that they're 
walking into and they're better prepared, sir, for life when 
they have a well-balanced curriculum. And I trust that 
educators across the country and policymakers at the local 
level have that in mind when they make decisions.
    Mr. Grothman. OK. A little while back--we're running out of 
time here, I and 18 of my colleagues were on June 10th wrote a 
letter regarding anti-Semitism on college campuses, and the 
significance of President Trump's executive order on combatting 
antisemitism. Do you--are you familiar with the letter? Are you 
familiar with the letter?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, thank you. My staff has the letter, 
yes.
    Mr. Grothman. OK. Are you familiar with the Executive Order 
13899, Combatting Anti-Semitism?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes.
    Mr. Grothman. Do you want to--can you publicly commit here 
to enforcing Title VI in line with Executive Order 13899?
    Secretary Cardona. I commit to looking into it more and 
working with you to make sure that we're combatting 
antisemitism. Prejudice of any kind has no place in our 
schools, and as educators and leaders we have to make sure 
we're working together in a bipartisan form, fashion to ensure 
that our schools are safe from any type of harassment or 
prejudice.
    Mr. Grothman. I want to ask you just one more followup on 
past contact we've had. I am an advocate for work centers and 
workplace choices for people with disabilities. I'm afraid a 
lot of people in Washington are going to take steps toward 
closing these without being adequately familiar with them. I've 
talked to you before. Can you commit to visiting some of these 
work centers with me or someone else before you--
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. As I said on the call, I look 
forward to it. I enjoy visits. I've been out to a lot of 
different places looking at reopening, and that is on my list 
of places that I want to visit to learn more about the issue. 
Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Grothman. I hope I get to go along. Thank you much.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired. Mr. Secretary we have another educator, a former 
college professor, Dr. Adams from North Carolina.
    Ms. Adams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking 
Member, for holding this meeting, and thank you Secretary 
Cardona. Good to see you again. I am an educator as Mr. Scott 
has said, lifelong 40 years on a college campus, but also 
training or working with the young people who are going out 
into teaching. And I'm also the mother of an elementary school 
principal. But thank you for your testimony, thank you for 
being an educator.
    The National Center for College Students with Disabilities 
in North Carolina collects information and conducts research 
about provisions for individuals with disabilities at campuses 
across America, provides technical assistance and information 
to those seeking aid and reports to the Department of Ed about 
the current status of college students with disabilities.
    They work hard to support students. They're concerned that 
it won't receive the funding that they need to operate. I did 
send you a letter, Secretary Cardona, but because you are here, 
I want to take the opportunity to ask you about an update 
regarding funding for the NCCSD.
    The Committee has examined the predatory behavior of some 
for-profit colleges as well. You talked a little bit about 
that. But I want to clarify that I'm only referring to for-
profit institutions which prey on students, and if you can 
explain just a little bit more about how you're going to 
oversee this, as well as, you know, speak to the letter that I 
sent you or what we can do to make sure that these, this 
organization continues to operate.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congresswoman, Adams, and 
thank you to your daughter who's serving as a school principal. 
Not an easy time to serve as a school leader, but I know across 
the country families and students are counting on the 
leadership of our school principals to make sure schools are 
safe and welcoming places for them to learn.
    With regard to the letter, I'm going to ask my staff to 
followup with your staff and you to give you an update on that. 
I can tell you though that protecting our borrowers is a 
priority, especially from for-profit institutions that prey on 
selling dreams and never delivering. Those students end up with 
debt, greater debt and no credential, no degree that can help 
them in the workforce.
    So I recognize the challenge that they have, and we want to 
make sure that we're working hard to support those students and 
also keep them at the center of the conversations. We're going 
to be aggressive on that and I look forward to working with you 
and others who share those goals, to making sure we stop those 
predatory lending or predatory practices that take advantage of 
young people that want to go and pursue their dreams in higher 
education. That's a priority for me.
    Ms. Adams. Thank you. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored 
the disparities and opportunities for different segments of our 
population. I got a two-part question. If you can just briefly 
discuss the Department's plans for addressing the disparities 
in post-secondary enrollment and the completion among low-
income students and students of color, and the plan for 
addressing disparity in student loan default, which you've 
spoken to a little bit already.
    Secretary Cardona. We know in higher education the impact 
of the pandemic has disproportionately affected students of 
color. In many cases these students are not returning back 
because they have to work another job to make ends meet, or to 
take care of some basic needs at the home. I recently was in 
Michigan, and I spoke to a middle-aged student who wanted to 
return to school but the costs of books was too high.
    And we, we know that in the Family Plan the funds for 
increasing Pell can help with some of those factors. We also 
know that making sure we're protecting our borrowers from 
misconduct is another way we can promote students getting back 
in. In the American Rescue Plan, $40 billion went to higher 
education. Half of that needs to go to students that are in 
greater need.
    So there are efforts underway to make sure that we're 
getting those numbers back up, we're re-engaging those students 
and I have confidence in our higher education systems and their 
ability to be innovative, to engage those students that we were 
not able to engage this past year, so that they can have the 
opportunity to succeed. And those efforts really need to be 
targeted toward those students that we lost. We know it's 
disproportionately black and brown students. So the President 
is also very big on ensuring that our HBCUs have the funding 
that they need to continue their efforts to recruit and retain 
students so that they can find success as well.
    Ms. Adams. Well thank you very much. I've only got 17 
seconds, but I'll send you, my question. It has to do with 
taking a look at the connection between culturally responsive 
education and student achievement. We'll send that on to you 
and if you can give us a response, I'd appreciate it. Mr. 
Chairman, I'm going to yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you, thank you. Next is the gentleman 
from Georgia, Mr. Allen.
    Mr. Allen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Secretary. It's 
great to have you today. Both of my parents were educators, so 
I learned a lot around the kitchen table every night, and so I 
know, I know a little bit about what you're up against. But you 
know, we've talked over and over about the American Rescue 
Plan, it being necessary to reopen schools.
    But I've got to tell you, you know, what do you say to tens 
of thousands of educators like those teachers in my district 
and certainly your State, and I congratulate you on getting 
that open, who successfully put their students first and 
reopened schools last fall, long before the American Rescue 
Plan was enacted.
    Secretary Cardona. Well like you, you know, we've work 
really hard to--from Day 1, you know. March 12th, I think we 
shut the schools down in 2020, and we worked closely with our 
health department to find ways to safely reopen schools with 
mitigation strategies. You know, we know also--
    Mr. Allen. And we did that.
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, but not all schools are built the 
same, right? Not all districts have the same resources. 
Unfortunately, I visited a school in Philly where the 
ventilation system was so antiquated, hasn't had the attention 
it needed. So what we wanted to make sure that the American 
Rescue Plan could go toward addressing some of those issues, 
PPE needs, additional staffing where we had classes of 20 or 
30. We had to limit those class sizes, so that we can make it 
safe for all students.
    Mr. Allen. And I don't quite understand the inequities 
there because like in my district. I mean we prioritized school 
construction with TSPLS, ESPLS and things like that and, you 
know, of course in other districts I see, you know, where 
there's tremendous. I mean you know; I wouldn't want my child 
to attend those schools.
    But moving on, you know, many teachers have made tough 
choices but, you know, families across the country made a lot 
of sacrifices too, and in this everyday learning environment. 
You acknowledge in your testimony that learning loss is going 
to be an exceptional challenge, maybe five to 9 months of 
learning during the pandemic, and of course minority students 
may have lost up to a year of learning.
    You know, I'm afraid we've got a generation of students who 
now have been put at a tremendous disadvantage. Parents want 
their schools to ramp up the skills for jobs like 
cybersecurity, engineering, health care to compete with China. 
Yet the Department is preoccupied with pushing civics grant 
programs as already been cited like Critical Race Theories, who 
have promoted a divisive theology.
    Secretary Cardona, are you aware of the outcry and 
frustration right now among parents with the State of education 
in America? I mean this is going to be like the next grass 
roots movement of this country, and I feel it. What are you 
hearing?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. Really, this is more about politics 
than programming. There was a very minor reference to an 
example that included that. What we have focused on and as you 
mentioned, and CTE. That's where we're going. We need to 
modernize and evolve our high schools and our middle schools to 
make sure that we're addressing what was called earlier a gap 
between our high schools and our 2-year colleges, so that 
students have access to good career technical education, to 
those jobs in cybersecurity that you mentioned. And we have to 
work more closely with the workforce.
    Our agency, let me be very clear. Our agency has been 
focusing on that since Day 1. We're going to continue to focus 
on that and we're not going to get distracted, because that's 
what our students need.
    Mr. Allen. Right, right. There's a tremendous disconnect 
between the business community and the education community, and 
that gap needs to be closed. I've got just a little bit of time 
left, but I want to enter into the record a poll, polling 
results that shows overwhelming support for school choice, both 
public and private school choice.
    Chairman Scott. Without objection.
    Mr. Allen. This recent polling shows it is highly 
bipartisan. When asked, 65 percent of survey respondents were 
supportive of school choice, allowing families to choose a menu 
of options for their child's education. I think it was 75 
percent of Republicans, 60 percent of Independents and 61 
percent of Democrats survey respondents all said they support 
school choice.
    In your testimony, you said that you are committed to 
reversing funding inequities. There's nothing more inequitable 
than a wealthy parent being able to send their child to any 
school they want, but outdated education policies telling low-
income parents they can't have the same opportunities.
    Mr. Secretary, will you commit to working with Congress to 
pass school choice legislation, to get every child in America 
to attend the school that best suits their needs?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman. I fully support 
the notion that every school across the country should provide 
high-quality education, and while I understand choice, parents 
should have choice, it should never come at the expense of a 
school, a local school, and the choice shouldn't be because one 
school can't meet the needs of the learners.
    We need to make sure all schools can meet the needs of 
learners, and not have a system of winners and losers. All 
schools need to make sure they meet the needs of the students.
    Mr. Allen. Yes, but until that is achieved, we need to give 
the students a choice or we're going to lag behind. Thank you, 
Mr. Secretary, and I yield back.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The next is the gentleman from 
California, Mr. DeSaulnier.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you and 
thank the Ranking Member for having this hearing and hosting 
the Secretary. Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for your 
service and your insights.
    I have two areas I wanted to question you about. First is 
workforce development in teaching, trying to attract the best 
and the brightest in career. As we've heard from my colleagues 
Ms. Adams, Mr. Takano, Mr. Allen of their own life experience, 
certainly yours and their family, trying to get the best and 
brightest to go into teaching and stay.
    And post-pandemic, we look like the trends may be heading 
in the wrong direction, and particularly in areas like the one 
I live in in the San Francisco Bay area where there are high-
cost areas, it's a real challenge. 43 states say that they've 
got significant shortages in science teachers, 42 states in 
math and of course all states have significant shortages when 
it comes to special education.
    Pre-COVID, I was out at a disadvantaged school, a middle 
school. I spent a day there and I asked the principal before I 
left what was it that she needed the most, and she said, well, 
there's a lot but behavioral health, particularly for my 
teachers. The kids need more counseling.
    With all that we're learning about neuroscience and stress, 
deploying those assets, and funding those assets would help my 
teachers a lot. This is a school where teachers left 
frequently, both young ones and older ones. So I very much 
appreciate your commitment in the budget, your comments, and 
your testimony about this issue.
    But how do we--how do we help you and engage on attracting 
the best and the brightest into the teaching field and keeping 
them there, and having them compensated appropriately?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much for that question, 
and for acknowledging the needs and doing it from the 
perspective of an educator. I appreciate you sharing that 
comment from the educator. First and foremost, we need to make 
sure we respect the profession. I think, you know, there's a 
saying that people, you know, just because you went to school 
doesn't mean you're an educator.
    Our educators are dealing with so much, dealing with mental 
health needs, dealing with a country that's divided that we're 
unifying again. And we recognize that. Like that young man that 
I spoke to at the high school in New York, they're coming back 
after a pandemic and many of them are facing loss. Many of them 
are facing job loss for their family Members.
    And we need to make sure we restructure our schools to 
provide that social and emotional well-being and support that 
they need, making sure that we provide mental health access to 
our students. That's how we heal together, right? The academics 
will come when the students' bandwidth for learning is 
increased. How do we do that? We make sure that students aren't 
hungry. We make sure that students have their emotional needs 
met, and that we're doing everything that we can to meet them 
where they are.
    The plan asks for that, and the plan also supports our 
teachers in doing that. So the American Families Plan, for 
example, provides about $9 billion in ensuring that we have 
certification for those hard to teach and hard to reach areas, 
the shortages in special education. There's Title I funding to 
increase pay for teachers who are working very hard to support 
our neediest learners but underpaid compared to their peers in 
other professions.
    So there's a commitment from the President to lift up the 
profession, to respect the profession and make sure that our 
teachers have the tools that they need to be successful, so 
that our students can be successful.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. Terrific. There's another statistic I 
believe from your department that the profession is 20 percent 
on average paid less than comparable fields with comparable 
education, which to me sounds not as dramatic as it really is, 
at least in expensive areas like the Bay Area.
    I want to talk to you a little bit about ? and to the last 
point though, also your commitment to community schools, to 
investing and engaging the community, a very important 
challenge. Representative Thompson and I some (?) years ago 
worked successfully to get funding on Family Engagement 
Centers. All the indications are that it really helps in 
schools with achievement gap.
    But I also want to talk about the exponential research that 
we're getting on not just cognitive development but 
neuroscience, the impact of stress, and communities and 
families engaging. So I wonder if we could talk a little bit 
about making sure your department is current with all of this. 
And this includes of course coming out of the pandemic a 
wonderful opportunity.
    The kids are challenged right now as they develop, even 
though we know what stress does to kids' brain development.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. I've always felt that our 
practice sometimes doesn't connect with the research as much as 
it should. And this is an opportunity for us to really make 
sure we're following the science, especially around how 
students develop emotionality, how that impacts learning, and 
then our community schools.
    The intent here is to make sure we're taking care of basic 
needs. You know Maslow's pyramid, right? If a student's hungry, 
they're not going to be as able to learn. If they're worried 
about housing and security, and we have to make sure we're 
connecting with our families better. This is our opportunity.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I 
appreciate it.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next is the gentleman from 
Indiana, Mr. Banks.
    Mr. Banks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you Mr. 
Secretary for being with us today. As you know, the Trump 
administration modernized the reporting process for disclosing 
large gifts and contracts flowing from foreign countries to the 
Department.
    As my colleague Representative Stefanik mentioned earlier, 
the Department issued a report in October 2020 revealing 
universities that failed to report $6-1/2 billion in gifts and 
contracts from foreign sources including China and opened 19 
university investigations.
    A simple quick question to get started for you. Has your 
Office of General Counsel briefed you on this report?
    Secretary Cardona. I have been informed of the concerns 
that you expressed in your comments, yes.
    Mr. Banks. Have you been informed that ? but Mr. Secretary, 
have you been briefed in detail on this report? A simple 
question.
    Secretary Cardona. No.
    Mr. Banks. OK. Will you commit today that you will request 
a full briefing on this matter from your Office of General 
Counsel?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, I will, and I'll reiterate what I 
said to your colleague earlier. This is important to us also, 
and we want to look into this matter. We want to work with you 
and others to make sure that we're addressing this. As I can 
tell, it's a major concern across both party lines.
    Mr. Banks. Appreciate it. Nearly a decade ago, the FBI 
warned that hostile foreign actors use colleges and 
universities to spread propaganda, steal intellectual property 
and recruit for espionage. Unfortunately for too long our 
colleges and universities have turned a blind eye to these 
threats.
    The Chinese Communist Party knows that American 
universities are home to government-funded national security 
research and use Confucius Institutes and Chinese student and 
scholar associations to collect our sensitive information and 
send it back to Beijing.
    In January, President Biden withdrew a Trump era proposed 
regulation that would have established requirements for Student 
and Exchange-to Visitor Program certified schools to disclose 
agreements with Confucius Institutes, or risk losing their SEVP 
certification. Now that you have weakened these safeguards 
against the CCP, how does the Biden administration proposed to 
protect our sensitive research from our greatest adversaries?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. We recognize your concern. We 
look forward to working with you to make sure that we hear your 
concerns and take that into account as we move forward.
    Mr. Banks. So you don't reject my question?
    Secretary Cardona. Excuse me?
    Mr. Banks. So you don't reject my question?
    Secretary Cardona. I understand you have concerns about 
that. I commit to working with you and others to make sure that 
we're listening to what your concerns are and communicating 
with you what our plans are to address that.
    Mr. Banks. We'll be following up soon with that.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Mr. Banks. I want to yield the rest of my time to Ranking 
Member Foxx.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Banks. Mr. Chairman, I would like 
to correct the record regarding the Public Service Loan 
Forgiveness (PSLF) program. We all agree that PSLF is an 
extremely complicated and flawed program. My Democrat 
colleagues are not shy about placing blame on the previous 
administration for all the problems with this program.
    However, the previous administration just happened to be in 
office when the key 10-year mark for this program was hit. I'd 
like to remind everyone what we learned during that previous 
hearing on the subject of the PSLF program. GAO found zero, 
zero evidence that the previous administration was to blame for 
the problems with this program. The record must be corrected.
    Rather, the real issue was the program was narrowly 
constructed in the statute. Had we worked together in a 
bipartisan way to craft this legislation, this program would 
look much different than it does today. So in looking for 
someone to blame for the denial of 99 percent of PSLF 
applicants, Democrats should look in the mirror.
    Mr. Secretary, I want to say to you, if you try to fix this 
program without coming back to legislation, I will be very 
concerned about that because I fear you will be doing what the 
Republicans have been accused of doing, and that is you will 
not be following the law. I am very concerned about that.
    Now I have another question to ask you. I'm very pleased 
you're here today, and before--I want to discuss oversight 
responses to letters and other congressional inquiries. Lots of 
Members on both sides have asked this question. Congress has 
the responsibility to oversee the implementation of the laws it 
passes. This is one of the areas where the Chairman and I 
agree, demonstrated by the Chairman's question to Secretary 
Walsh.
    While I appreciate your agency has responded to some 
letters, not all letters have received responses. Will you 
agree to require your staff to respond thoroughly and quickly 
to inquiries from Members of this Committee?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next is the gentleman from New 
Jersey, Mr. Norcross.
    Mr. Norcross. Thank you, Chairman. I very much appreciate 
this hearing and to the Secretary, great to have you here. 
Looking forward to having you in the district coming up on the 
16th of July to see how we're doing things in South Jersey. But 
I want to shift the focus away from some of the previous 
questions to one of safety. After coming out of the pandemic, 
we certainly know how important that is.
    According to a June 2020 GAO report, about half the public-
school districts in this country need to replace multiple 
building systems in their schools. 41 percent of them, it's 
about the HVAC. We know, coming through a pandemic, how 
dangerous when you spread germs can be for not only students 
but for all people. One of the key components--[inaudible]--
make sure that they don't face.
    How is the Department going to address the ventilation 
systems so our schools, our children and their parents are 
assured their kids are going into a safe school?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that. You know, my 
experience in Connecticut put ventilation on my radar really 
early, and we recognized that in order to safely reopen 
schools, in the almost daily meetings we had we had to include 
OSHA officials and folks whose job it is to look at 
occupational safety.
    And I can assure you that moving forward, educators across 
the country are taking into account air quality and making sure 
that the systems that in many cases have been neglected receive 
the proper maintenance and upgrades that they need, in order to 
circulate air and make sure schools are safe for our students 
and our educators.
    So in our handbook, this COVID-19 handbook, the second one, 
we have guidance on best practices and what states and 
districts should be doing. There are funds in the Plan, the K-
12 infrastructure part of the American Jobs Plan, to upgrade 
and build new public schools where needed.
    There's 50 billion over 5 years, making sure that our 
schools are healthy places for students to learn and places for 
educators to work, which includes community college upgrades as 
well. I don't want to leave out our higher education 
institutions who are also looking at those same issues.
    So in resources, it's there. In guidance and best practices 
there are resources there, and we look forward to working with 
our states and our local partners to make sure that they have 
what they need to be successful.
    Mr. Norcross. Thank you, and Mr. Chairman, I'd like to 
enter into the record a letter from the School Superintendents 
Association, American Federation of Teachers, NEA, and sheet 
metal workers, along with 14 others, talking about exactly what 
we have here.
    Chairman Scott. Without objection.
    Mr. Norcross. Thank you. Second question. The Secretary's 
education--[inaudible]--important. What a background that you 
have that's relevant at each level of that education. The 
narrative in this country is in order to make it, you have to 
go to a 4-year college, and that's contributed to by--it starts 
from parents.
    But we know that's not the same for every kid. We have to 
recognize, and we've talked about this, how children are 
different, their needs, their desires, their aspirations. How 
are you going to push the narrative that education is more than 
just a 4-year college? and we do need those, but we also need 
carpenters, electricians. We need across the field, and 
everybody is equal.
    How is it that when we talk about financial support and the 
great things we've done in student debt, that every child, no 
matter what they choose as their career, is important and can 
expect that sort of support that we're doing.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman Norcross. You 
know, having graduated from a technical high school, where I 
was learning the automotive trade for 4 years, then having the 
influence of a phenomenal teacher and it's important to name 
them publicly, Mrs. Ransome (phonetic), who said Miguel, you 
know, you might want to consider a career in education. You're 
using your art to speak, and you might want to be an art 
teacher. So I went into a 4-year college, but I recognize the 
value of vocational education and career technical education.
    And I can tell you; we need to evolve our schools better 
and change the culture where it has very old school mentality. 
We have to change that. Our schools today need to evolve to 
make sure that the workforce needs that are existing today are 
met, that we have a clear through line from middle school to 
high school to 2 years colleges to the workforce, and then to 
4-year schools too, because students may want to advance their 
education.
    But we have to change the culture and change the narrative, 
and we do that by creating quality programs. I can tell you 
that in Connecticut, you know, the running joke was if you're a 
welder who knows how to code, you're set. You're not going to 
have debt, you're going to have people knocking on your door to 
hire you and you're going to be making a very, very good 
salary.
    So I recognize it. I've seen it as an educator, I've 
experienced it as a student. We have to work together to make 
sure not only that we're changing the narrative, but that we're 
providing good pathways for students with jobs that exist now, 
that are vacant now. We have to make sure we do a better job 
connecting our pre-K-12 schools and community colleges.
    And as you know, the American Family Plan is proposing that 
at a level where I think it can really make a difference for 
our country.
    Mr. Norcross. Well thank you. My time expired, but I do 
want to give a shout out to Mr. Borita, my 7th grade teacher.
    Secretary Cardona. There you go.
    Mr. Norcross. --[inaudible] educators. I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Keller.
    Mr. Keller. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you Mr. 
Secretary for being here today. When we look at the outstanding 
student debt, it's quickly approaching $2 trillion. President 
Biden has made it clear that forgiving student debt is a top 
priority for the administration, and it's also my understanding 
that you agree with the goal.
    Well, the narrative surrounding the student debt crisis 
leads one to believe that swathes of borrowers are saddled by 
burdensome debt, the data suggests that this rhetoric is 
separated from reality. According to an analysis by the 
Brookings Institute, households with graduate degrees owe 56 
percent of outstanding student debt, despite making up only 14 
percent of adults aged 25 and older and having median income 
between 72,000 and 111,000 dollars.
    Further, the analysis estimated that forgiving $10,000 in 
Federal student debt, as President Biden has been advocating, 
would cost about $373 billion. So Mr. Secretary, how does the 
Department justify forgiving the debt of the highest earning 
households at the expense of hard-working taxpayers, of which 
the vast majority do not hold a college degree?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for sharing your perspective, 
and I can assure you that examining this issue and really 
making sure that we provide targeted relief is a priority for 
us. There have been students who have been taken advantage of 
by misconduct of institutions.
    Mr. Keller. Excuse me if I can just reclaim my time. We're 
not talking about institutions. We're talking about the amount 
of debt that the administration wants to forgive, and the fact 
that forgiving this debt is going to impact higher earners at 
the expense of the earnings of households where the majority of 
the people do not hold a college degree. So you know, I don't 
want to--but respectfully, my question is how, how do we do 
this, you know? How does the Department justify forgiving the 
debt on the high earners, high earning households at the 
expense of the other ones?
    Regardless of what the other institutions are. They need to 
be held accountable. What I want to know is how we're 
justifying the Department, the Department justifying forgiving 
the debt on the highest-earning households at the expense of 
hard-working taxpayers, of which the vast majority do not hold 
a college degree? That's the question.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman Keller. We 
haven't made a decision on loan forgiveness. What I was 
referring to earlier is the importance that we're going to 
place on making sure that students get a good return on 
investment.
    Mr. Keller. And that happens--excuse me, sir. And that 
happens with all educational institutions. They need to be 
treated the same. Would you agree that whether it's proprietary 
or not-for-profit, they need to be treated the same? Would you 
agree that that's a fair statement?
    Secretary Cardona. I agree, yes.
    Mr. Keller. OK, because we could talk about return on 
investment and the metrics for which we measure success for 
students. I think that regardless of whether it's a proprietary 
institution or a non-profit or a public institution, it should 
be the same. I'm glad we agree on that.
    Secretary Cardona. I do agree with you on that, and I 
believe again this overhaul that I talk about is really more 
about making sure that we're looking at things holistically, 
that students are getting a good return on investment, that the 
pathways that we provide them are going to lead to meaningful 
careers.
    I agree that this is--this process, for-profit or public. 
But I also know that historically we've seen some gross 
examples of misconduct toward students, and we want to be very 
clear that we're going to be monitoring them more closely and 
that we want to protect our students and borrowers from--
    Mr. Keller. I concede that. I hope that we're going to 
monitor all institutions more closely. Do we have that 
commitment? I'd love to work with you on that.
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, absolutely.
    Mr. Keller. To ensure that the playing field's equal.
    Secretary Cardona. As a first--I hear you. As a first-
generation college student, I can tell you that it's really 
important that we're monitoring and that we're supporting our 
learners and that we're keeping them at the center of the 
conversations, that they're getting a good return on investment 
wherever they go, community schools, community colleges, 4-
year, 2 year, private.
    For us, we really want to make sure we keep the student at 
the center of the conversation and protect them wherever they 
go.
    Mr. Keller. I appreciate that, I thank you for that and I 
yield the balance of my time to Dr. Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Keller. Mr. Secretary, following 
this line, we sent a letter regarding a report that was 
commissioned by FSA analyzing the true value of the student 
loan portfolio, to which your staff responded with a heavily 
redacted copy of the requested document.
    Since then, you've largely ignored our request for an 
unredacted copy. Mr. Secretary, the lack of transparency on 
this issue at your direction. If not, will you promise today to 
provide that unredacted report to the Committee by the end of 
the week?
    Secretary Cardona. We will continue to work with you and 
others to share what we have. But we stand by our report and 
the work of our agency, and we're not thinking about using a 
report that doesn't have the decades of tweaking that our 
report does to get the numbers that we have.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next, we have on the screen the 
gentleman from New York, Mr. Morelle.
    Mr. Morelle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for holding this 
important hearing today to discuss the budget priorities for 
the Department and thank you very much Mr. Secretary for being 
with us and for your long service to the country. You're in 
Connecticut. Not quite New York, but close enough.
    But I want to start by sharing a quote from a very good 
friend of mine, Sherry Johnson, who is the Monroe County School 
Board Association executive director, on the impact the 
American Rescue Plan will have on our students. The quote is 
referenced from the Rochester City Newspaper titled ``Nearly 
400 million of Federal aid coming to Rochester area schools.''
    Ms. Johnson states ``These dollars from the ARP will take 
care of those pandemic needs and allow school districts to use 
budgets to get school districts ramped back up for full in-
person student instruction.'' Mr. Chairman, I'd like to submit 
that article for the record without objection.
    Mr. Morelle. Mr. Secretary, I'm encouraged by the 
Department's administration of the ARP and the Department 
recently published description of the State ARP plans. What's 
the Department's plan for ensuring that State plans are 
consistent with the laws, so once they're submitted that they 
are consistent with Federal law?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. You know, we have a critical 
point in our country's history, to make sure that the resources 
that are being provided, unprecedented resources, go to where 
they're supposed to go, to the classrooms, to the schoolhouses 
that need it quickly, and that the funds are being used to 
promote innovation but also to address the inequities that were 
exacerbated during this pandemic.
    What we've asked states to do is submit their plans. And 
we've had over 100 calls already, to make sure that those plans 
follow the expectation of promoting equity and addressing the 
inequities that were exacerbated. We're going to continue to 
work with states to make sure that the maintenance of effort 
requirements are happening, and we're working closely with our 
states and we're working closely with our Governors who have 
been great.
    I think we all recognize this moment we have in our 
country's history to build back better. The resources are 
there, the urgency from the President is there and now we have 
to make sure that we match it, and make sure that the funds go 
toward those students that need it most.
    Mr. Morelle. Well thank you very much for that. You 
mentioned earlier, I believe, the Individuals With Disabilities 
Education Act, which as you know has not been funded at the 
promised appropriations levels in the past. Special education 
costs as I know, you know better than most, for children in 
each State continue to escalate.
    In New York, not only are they escalating but as everywhere 
else have accelerated during the pandemic. As I join my 
colleagues in the House in including funding for students with 
disabilities as a part of impactful legislation, it's crucial 
we receive support from across the government.
    So tell me a little bit about how you see the budget plan 
to increase IDEA funding for students who desperately need it, 
and how the Department will continue to lead in that regard.
    Secretary Cardona. Absolutely Congressman. You know first, 
let me--you know, I started in the beginning saying every 
number has a face, every number has a story. The calls that I 
receive from parents whose children have autism, who were 
sitting at home outside of their routine, outside of the tools 
for learning that they were used to and accustomed to, not 
being able to see their teachers or the paraeducators.
    The impact that it had on those students was significant, 
and I remember telling the parents that, you know, we want to 
make sure their children are safe. We want to get them back in 
as quickly as possible. And that was in March 2020. We have a 
responsibility to make sure that we double down and provide the 
support, especially for those students who were most 
significantly impacted, students with disabilities who required 
that additional support.
    So the proposal, which includes 15, a request of 15.5 
billion for Fiscal Year 2022 on IDEA Part B, which brings it up 
to 14.6 percent of IDEA. It's critically important. Those 
dollars will go toward additional teachers for those students 
who have been sitting in front of a laptop, and we know that 
the laptop won't meet their needs for students who require 
occupational therapy and physical therapy in their schooling 
that didn't have access to that.
    We need to do more for these students. I'm glad to see that 
the proposal recognizes this, and I hope we have the support on 
that because these students can't wait any longer.
    Mr. Morelle. Well thank you for that. If I can quickly just 
switch topics a little bit. Students have experienced 
significant trauma in the last year, especially true for 
students in economically distressed communities. Research shows 
there's been an increase in gun violence during this time 
period.
    According to a 2019 GAO study, students that adopt a trauma 
sensitive approach report many positive outcomes. I just wonder 
how states and districts are using ARP funds to implement 
trauma-informed practices to support students across the 
spectrum, and I know I might be out of time. Maybe you could 
reflect on that afterwards.
    Secretary Cardona. Happy to send information in writing.
    Mr. Morelle. Terrific. I yield back Mr. Chair. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, as I said we've 
got a lot of teachers on the screen. The gentleman from North 
Carolina is a physician, but he taught at medical school as I 
understand it. Dr. Murphy.
    Mr. Murphy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome Mr. 
Secretary. I appreciate your service and your dedication to 
helping our students. I'm going to talk about two topics and 
ask you to talk about those. You know we've talked a lot about 
crippling student debt, and you know, that's now a big, big 
issue. In fact, from the ACTA, I'm looking at statistics that 
show that non-instructional spending, which is something I'm 
concerned about at colleges and universities from 2016 to 1917 
actually exceeded the gross domestic product of 131 countries.
    You know, we're talking about root causes, right. We're 
talking about root causes, why this is. And so in my opinion, 
rather than just us pouring more debt on this Nation, we need 
to see why our colleges and universities are spending more. I 
look back at my alma mater, you know. I'm looking at statistics 
that show that 46 percent of their cost is on administrative 
cost.
    We've seen that go like a skyrocket compared to academic 
costs. So let's look at in my opinion why student debt is so 
much. You know, I believe the Federal Government exacerbates 
the problem, as continuing increases in Federal student aid 
have enabled institutions to increase their tuition rates, 
confident that Congress will cushion those.
    So I'm interested in how you feel we do this. How do we get 
more bang for the buck? How do we cut the excess that is going 
on in so many colleges and universities?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for your question and for your 
concern. I share with you the importance of making sure we have 
a role in ensuring a good return on investment for our learners 
and ensuring that colleges are utilizing their funds to support 
students.
    But I'll tell you, I recently visited a school in Michigan 
where I spoke to a student who is struggling with the cost of 
books, and the books I think for that semester were $600, 
separate from the tuition. So I also want to encourage 
universities and colleges to make sure that they're looking at 
the needs of students and providing supports in areas that our 
students need.
    The traditional student is no longer the traditional 
student, right? We have parents who are going to college to get 
different skills or to, you know, maybe they didn't go after 
high school, but they didn't want to close the door on that 
dream and they're going back now, and they might have children.
    So colleges are serving more of a greater role in many 
cases than they have in the past. So they might have childcare 
centers there. They might have assistance for students who are 
dealing with hunger and making sure that those basic needs are 
being met. So I recognize the importance of a good return on 
investment, but I also recognize that colleges are serving 
students in ways that they haven't traditionally in the past.
    Mr. Murphy. Yes, I know. I was on a full scholarship 
undergraduate, and I held two jobs to help work with that stuff 
and yes, I went hungry. I had a lot of Lean Cuisine meals and I 
think a lot of that stuff. There's just a lot of bloat that 
goes on, and we need to--we need to address that. But anyway, 
thank you for your comments.
    Let me just turn to one issue that is hotly debated now in 
the country, and that's Critical Race Theory. Obviously, Mr. 
Secretary our Nation has had a difficult history of slavery and 
subsequent discrimination. That said, we also have a very proud 
history of eradicating slavery, ending legal discrimination, 
and fighting to overcome racism.
    We have made what I believe is undervalued progress since 
our troubled beginnings. We continue that fight today. However, 
Critical Race Theory has a fundamental effect now on the way 
young children and students view this Nation's history. So I 
think looking to the future Mr. Secretary, and I'm going to ask 
you this not as Secretary of Education but as an American. I 
know you don't have control over curriculum.
    How do you think the history of our country should be 
taught? In other words, understanding that we still have far to 
go, should our history be one taught from the vantage point of 
victimhood or vindictiveness, or should it be one made of 
achievement, progress but still more achievement and progress 
to go?
    Secretary Cardona. Certainly, achievement and progress I'm 
proud to be an American. I'm proud of being, serving in this 
role. I mean I'm an example of the American story, right? But I 
think we can do that while also being honest about some of the 
things we're not proud of. And I don't think our educators 
across the country, I don't think it's an issue with them.
    They understand how our students learn. They understand how 
important it is to make sure that the curriculum No. 1 is 
handled there, and I do believe, I feel very strongly about 
this, that when done well it builds community. It builds pride 
in our country when it can be done well. I trust our educators 
across the country to get it done well.
    Mr. Murphy. Great. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I appreciate 
your time.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Mr. Murphy. I'll yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady from 
Pennsylvania, Ms. Wild.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Mr. 
Secretary for being here with our full Committee. It's good to 
see you. Before I start with my question, I just want to note 
my profound disagreement with my colleague who just spoke about 
the place of Critical Race Theory in our schools.
    But I'll move on to the topic of school infrastructure, and 
specifically the physical environment that our students learn 
in. I am located, my district is located in the Lehigh Valley 
of Pennsylvania. We hope to welcome you in the not-too-distant 
future to our area. We experience education funding disparities 
just like districts all across the country.
    One of my urban low-income school districts in the Lehigh 
Valley, the Allentown School District, has four schools that 
were built in the 1800's, around the time when President 
Ulysses S. Grant was in office. And many of the schools do not 
have central air conditioning, and even if funding were to 
become available for facilities upgrades, many of these old 
buildings have simply reached their electrical capacity. They 
can't add air conditioning.
    So you know, it seems to me that it's really hard to expect 
that students learning in a school that was built two centuries 
ago, will find the same type of fulfillment and ability to 
learn from going to schools, from going to school as students 
attending wealthier schools.
    And not to prolong the discussion of my own district but 
let me just say right adjacent to the Allentown School District 
is the Parkland School District, where their brand-new high 
school, I still think of it as the brand-new high school; it 
was built in 1999, it seems like yesterday.
    It's a highly rated public school and has every possible 
advantage and comfort that could possibly be imagined for the 
students and the teachers. And that's right next door to the 
Allentown School District that I just referred to. So I am 
really happy that President Biden's infrastructure proposal, 
the American Jobs Plan, includes $100 billion for school 
infrastructure and new construction projects.
    What I'd like to hear from you is let's--how would the 
funding in the Jobs Plan and in the Reopen and Rebuild 
America's Schools Act, which by the way I co-sponsor, help 
districts like the one in my hometown upgrade their old school 
buildings and build new schools where necessary.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for the question. You know, 
you or I would not buy a car without air conditioning. As a 
matter of fact, if the option to go into a workplace on a hot 
muggy day without air conditioning, if the option exists to go 
there or to work from home where you do have air conditioning, 
you would likely, and I would likely go to a place where it's a 
little bit more comfortable.
    So why do we allow it to be normalized that our students 
are in classrooms with 20-30 students without air conditioning 
and that's been normalized? The President gets it. The American 
Jobs Plan provides funds and through the Families Plan and the 
American Rescue Plan, there's an opportunity here not only to 
upgrade our systems, but to make sure that our learning 
environments, as you mentioned, are conducive to learning and 
to learning the way learning should be.
    It's not sitting in rows facing forward. It's students 
engaging with one another. Sometimes these classrooms in older 
schools are really small and tight, and not conducive to good 
pedagogy. So this is our opportunity to build back better, to 
make sure that we're building up our schools in places where we 
would want to send our own children. Every student across the 
country deserves that. The American Jobs Plan, Families Plan 
and the Rescue Plan and the budget promote that.
    So let's--as educators, we need to make sure we're being 
creative and assertive about making sure that our students get 
the same opportunities for their learning that we would want in 
our workplace.
    Ms. Wild. And by the way, I don't--you know, we know, that 
a great deal of research has shown that high quality school 
facilities improves students' academic achievement, reduce 
student, and staff absences and reduce student suspensions.
    I was fortunate enough to also visit a brand-new elementary 
school in that Parkland School District, where that more modern 
high school is located just recently, and it was just 
incredible. It incorporated all kinds of creative learning 
spaces for students. It was the kind of place that I would want 
to go.
    And it's not just about comfort. I think there's not a 
single person on this Committee that doesn't believe that young 
people and students are the future of our country, and that we 
have to do everything we can to help them learn. So I'm really 
appreciative of the commitment of this administration, of 
making sure that not only is the quality of the education good 
and the teaching staff and so forth, but that the facilities 
are conducive to good learning.
    With that Mr. Secretary, thank you so much. I feel like I 
could talk to you for an entire afternoon, and I hope I have 
the opportunity to do that soon. I yield back.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. They are inextricably linked. 
They are inextricably linked.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you so much.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, we've got another 
educator, Dr. Miller-Meeks who is an ophthalmologist, but 
taught at medical school. Dr. Miller-Meeks.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much Representative Scott, 
Chair Scott. I appreciate that. I also have a master's in 
Education, but that may make me less qualified to ask a 
question. And Secretary Cardona, thank you so much for being 
here. Thank you for I think the wonderful example you show to 
young people what people of color can do and become. I too grew 
up in the military, traveling around, going to schools in 
Southeast Texas with no air conditioning, and somehow that made 
me the resilient individual that I am, as are you. So thank 
you.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. I also left home at 16 and started in 
community college. So my question is about community colleges. 
I think that they're indispensable in their local communities, 
and they provide education at lower cost than 4-year 
institutions.
    I support each student being able to choose the best post-
secondary path for them to reach both their academic and their 
career goals. I also believe states themselves should be able 
to run their education systems in a way that makes the most 
sense for that State.
    But President Biden would have us believe that mandating 
that community colleges be free is in fact the answer to the 
complex problems of both access and affordability in higher 
education for all students. We have great community colleges in 
my home State of Iowa and in my district, but nationwide 
community colleges still face a number of challenges like long 
wait lists, low graduation rates and low transfer rates to 4-
year institutions.
    Mr. Secretary, do you believe that community college in 
every State, all community colleges, are equipped to handle the 
expected influx of students attending on the promise of a free 
college education, and will they be able to effectively meet 
all the students' needs? If not, how can you justify the 
President's budget request, to spend over $100 billion to make 
community college free for all?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congresswoman. You know to 
me, the challenge of meeting the demand for community college 
is one that I'll accept. If we have a situation where our 
community colleges have more people that want to sign up than 
they can take, that tells me that there's a thirst for this and 
that that's only going to have a benefit for our economy, for 
our communities.
    Community college graduates as you know, they graduate with 
a 21 percent increase in earning potential. That's good for the 
families, that's good for the community. Will it require, will 
it require focus on new challenges? Definitely. However, it's 
about time that we realize as a country that we need to provide 
more opportunities to college access. We need to provide 
opportunities for students to get skills for higher-paying jobs 
that are there waiting for them.
    So I do believe that this is the right step for our 
country, and I recognize that it will come with challenges. But 
those are challenges that I accept.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. And how can we ensure--already we know at 
our K through 12 system that it has had very mixed results. We 
know that we lag behind in reading and math, regardless of the 
facility. So how do you expect or how can you ensure that the 
mixed results in K through 12 would not be carried over into 
two additional years at a community college?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congresswoman Miller-Meeks 
for being able to answer that. We have been ? again as an 
educator, as a principal, as an assistant superintendent, we've 
been underfunded to the point where it's become normalized. 
With this $20 billion investment in Title I, to focus on 
addressing those achievement disparities, with the funds that 
are being aimed at CTE to make sure that we have good pathways 
that are engaging our learners, providing good STEM 
programming, ensuring that we have good classes sizes and 
support for our students with disabilities, I expect there to 
be an improvement in our K-12 programming, in our K-12 
outcomes.
    We're going to get back from this pandemic and we're going 
to improve outcomes in our K-12 system. I didn't take this 
position to keep the status quo. I came to address the 
achievement disparities--
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. Speaking of the pandemic, I apologize.
    Secretary Cardona [continuing]. and make sure we do better.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. I apologize, my time is limited, but 
speaking of the pandemic and I would say that we spend more per 
student than almost any other country and have mixed results. 
But Dr. Murphy and I on Ed and Labor together sent a letter on 
May 6th to Dr. Walensky, the Director of the CDC, raising 
concerns about reports that teachers' unions inappropriately 
exerted political pressure on the Biden administration to 
influence CDC health guidelines on reopening schools.
    The reason this is important is because in closing schools, 
the rate of depression, mental health issues and suicide among 
students as young as 9 years old have escalated, 31 percent 
increase in mental health issues. Do you agree it's 
inappropriate for teachers' unions to exert political pressure 
on health officials, and do you agree that health decisions 
should instead be based on the evidence?
    Secretary Cardona. You know, I'm happy to have more 
conversation with you on this, or even submit in writing. I do 
believe the mental health needs of our students must be taken 
into account, not only as we make decisions about reopening, 
but as we think about what supports we're going to provide for 
students in the fall.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. Both the mental health issues and also 
the exercise of teachers' unions on health decisions I think is 
something that we should be focused on as well too. So thank 
you so much, and Mr. Chair I yield back my time.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady from Georgia, the 
gentlelady from Georgia Ms. McBath.
    Ms. McBath. Thank you, Chairman Scott, and thank you so 
much for convening this hearing. And thank you so much 
Secretary Cardona, for your excellent work at the Department. 
I've had a chance to hear, hear from you before. We're just 
really grateful for everything that you're doing. There's been 
so much value, and over the last year, you know, we've watched 
as COVID-19, the coronavirus, has just really made its 
devastating impact on the entire nation.
    And it was a year that, you know, we saw all of our adult 
children, you know, and I'm sure they were pretty upset, but 
many of them having to move back with their families. We saw 
graduations canceled and virtual classrooms become what we now 
have to say was the new normal.
    When I talk to my constituents, I mean it was clear. I 
spoke with, to them over and over and over again over the 
course of that time. You know, over the--even though we passed 
this historic relief, you know, hard-working families, you 
know, deserve a break, and we know that our students deserve a 
break, and that's what I've heard.
    My question comes to you about the American Rescue Plan, 
which invested billions of dollars into relief for higher 
education. and we know that this historic relief legislation 
really sought to kind of bolster and strengthen, and some cases 
improve our education system.
    You know, I've heard from educators throughout my district, 
and we did a lot of, you know, webinars within, just really 
hearing from them. In fact, Ron Wade, who is the Fulton County 
School District Chief Talent Officer, he recently just stated 
that each elementary school will get a literacy coach and 
another literacy-related staff Member and all this is because 
of the funding that we appropriated for the American Rescue 
Plan.
    We know that these resources are especially critical of 
course for black and Latino students, whose learning was 
actually three to 5 months behind at the beginning of this 
school year and could be up to six to 12 months behind by the 
end of this school year, compared to the four to 8 months for 
white students.
    Secretary Cardona, State plans for the use of the American 
Rescue Plan funds, you know, that were due on June 7th, can you 
share any additional data or information on the impact that the 
American Rescue Plan funding has had on the improvement of 
resources to support our students, especially for vulnerable 
student groups. Thank you.
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. Thank you for that, and for 
acknowledging the challenges that are out there, but also the 
fact that the American Rescue Plan is providing relief. I loved 
how you turned, you know, what some say well, look at the money 
here. No. We're talking about a literacy specialist for kids 
who are behind. So the money translates into people that are 
going to help children be successful.
    Whether that's in literacy or numeracy, or in their mental 
health needs because of what they just experienced. We have 35 
plans submitted. The other 15 we're working on getting them in. 
We're having communication with all the states. They have some 
legislative barriers to getting it in by the 7th, but we're 
working with those states and we're confident we're going to 
get them very soon, and we've been in communication with those 
states.
    Over 100 calls. Webinar with over 550 groups of 
stakeholders to talk about how the stakeholder engagement 
should look, how equity focus should look. So it's really given 
us the opportunity to engage and partner with school 
communities and states, on how to build back better.
    We're seeing summer school programs expanded to include 
enrichment opportunities for students who would be stuck at 
home during the summer. We see extended day programs in the 
fall for students to have an opportunity to engage with their 
peers, after having been locked in their home for a year and a 
half because the pandemic was rampant in their communities.
    We have additional support personnel to assist students as 
they come back, and we anticipate that they're going to need 
more support. My biggest fear is that symptoms of trauma get 
treated like disciplinary issues. So we have to make sure we 
have more school counselors, social workers, better training 
for teachers to understand how to welcome our students in a 
trauma-informed school.
    These funds are critical to making sure we build that 
better, and making sure schools have what they need to reopen 
schools, and our students can't wait any longer.
    Ms. McBath. Well thank you Secretary Cardona. Thank you so 
much for understanding the continuing investments that we need 
to make sure that we no longer are, you know, dealing with 
these disparities and we are bridging the gap that our students 
so desperately need and getting them back, you know, back up on 
their feet and moving toward a global education to compete 
globally in the world. Thank you so much, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next is my colleague from 
Virginia, who was formerly an official at Liberty University, 
Mr. Good.
    Mr. Good. Thank you, Chairman Scott and thank you Secretary 
Cardona for being with us today. On April 19, 2021, the 
Department of Education published a proposed rule prioritizing 
the development of culturally responsive teaching and learning, 
and the promotion of information literacy skills in grants 
under these programs.
    Specifically, the proposed rule references the New York 
Times' 1619 Project and Professor Ibram Kendi as demonstrating 
aspects of culturally responsive teaching and learning. 
Secretary Cardona, the 1619 Project asserts that the 
Revolutionary War was fought to preserve the institution of 
slavery in American colonies. Do you believe this to be true, 
and that this should be taught in classrooms across the 
country?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. I do believe that our 
students should be exposed to culturally relevant pedagogy and 
materials. But I refer to it more as windows, mirrors and 
sliding glass doors, where they can use a curriculum as a 
window--
    Mr. Good. I'm sorry, time is short. Could you just--could 
you just answer yes, or no? Do you believe that the 
Revolutionary War was fought primarily to preserve the 
institution of slavery in the colonies?
    Secretary Cardona. I'm not going to comment on specific 
questions regarding--
    Mr. Good. So you will not deny that you believe that. Do 
you believe that it should be--that that should be taught, that 
the Revolutionary War was fought to preserve the institution of 
slavery in colonies, that that should be taught to kids in 
classrooms across the country?
    Secretary Cardona. I believe educators across the country 
are able to decide how they teach our history.
    Mr. Good. OK. I'll move on to the next question, thank you, 
if you're not going to deny that you would think that that 
should be taught. Secretary Cardona, Professor Kendi wrote in 
this book how to be an anti-racist that, and I quote ``The only 
remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination. 
The only remedy to past discrimination is present 
discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is 
future discrimination.''
    Secretary Cardona, do you believe that discrimination in 
any form is acceptable, and that discrimination should be 
taught in our schools as an acceptable practice for our 
children?
    Secretary Cardona. No.
    Mr. Good. Thank you very much, and so you will commit that 
you will not support that as Secretary of Education, teaching 
any discrimination in our schools?
    Secretary Cardona. We should be promoting community in our 
schools and I'm confident that our educators do that.
    Mr. Good. Thank you, sir. Different phrases are sometimes 
used to describe the radical leftist ideas that the DoE is 
proposing to fund with hard-working American tax dollars. When 
you were in your role as Connecticut Education Commissioner, 
you called it ``woke.'' Dr. Kendi has called it ``anti-
racism,'' but many of course have known it as Critical Race 
Theory.
    One of the concerns that many of us have with Critical Race 
Theory is that it tends to view race as predictive. New York 
Times contributor Thomas Chatterton Williams even argued that 
Critical Race Theory adherents shared common cause with white 
supremacists. Thankfully, some states have curtailed or banned 
the teaching of Critical Race Theory, including Florida, Idaho, 
Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
    Secretary Cardona, does the Department of Education plan on 
challenging the actions taken in these states and their rights 
not to teach material they find as objectionable, dishonest, 
and not in the best interest of our country or our children?
    Secretary Cardona. So Representative Good, you know as I 
stated to your colleagues earlier in this hearing that states 
have the responsibility and locals for deciding curriculum. And 
there is no Federal role in that. With that said--
    Mr. Good. You do not, the Department of Education will not 
challenge actions taken by states not to teach Critical Race 
Theory?
    Secretary Cardona. I would love the opportunity to finish 
what I was going to say earlier.
    Mr. Good. I would just like a yes or no answer please, with 
just a little over a minute to go. Will the Department of 
Education challenge their intention not to teach Critical Race 
Theory in those states?
    Secretary Cardona. As I've said before, states have the 
responsibility of providing curriculum, and we understand that. 
But the culturally relevant pedagogy is critically important 
for students to feel engaged, and part of a school community. I 
have confidence in our educators across the country to get it 
right. I think this has become more--
    Mr. Good. So you would not challenge it legally?
    Secretary Cardona. I think this has become more politicized 
than it is about programming.
    Mr. Good. OK, I'm going to move on please. Thank you, sir. 
My home State of Virginia unfortunately has embraced the Biden 
administration's, and the Department of Education's policies 
here, and it's proof that that causes all kind of issues.
    You can just see this past week in Virginia's Loudoun 
County, one of the largest counties in Virginia, the Board of 
Education there rather than face parental criticism, they shut 
down public comment, they adjourned the meeting and they 
actually called police to come and arrest parents who had 
gathered to express their grievances with government and local 
school officials.
    I hope that you will not nationalize the culture war that 
started in Virginia and bankrupt Critical Race Theory with hard 
earned taxpayer dollars, and I have 7 minutes left on my time 
and I yield back Chairman.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired. Next Mr. Secretary is the Member you know well, former 
Teacher of the Year, National Teacher of the Year from 
Connecticut, Ms. Hayes.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you so much Mr. Chair and thank you 
Secretary Cardona for being here. It is wonderful to see you 
here today. Connecticut is so proud of your leadership, and as 
your representative I can tell you it is a breath of fresh air 
to sit through this hearing and listen to an actual 
practitioner talk education policy. It is a welcome change.
    And I don't have to tell you how proud the folks back in 
Meriden are and all of the teachers in Connecticut and their 
parents are to have you here. You inspire us and instill so 
much confidence. Before I begin my questioning, I do just want 
to take a moment to say that we hear, we're hearing a lot of 
comments about the sense of fatigue about any discussion 
surrounding race and the teaching of race.
    I'll just say first of all Secretary, I am just, your 
answer to that issue is why you're a teacher. But for those 
people who are sick of hearing it or talking about it or are 
fatigued by conservations surrounding race, imagine just for a 
second the people who are living through it every day. I'm a 
history teacher. I had to teach about the most painful parts of 
our history. I had to teach slavery to my students. If I were 
in the class today, I'd have to teach them about the January 6 
insurrection.
    So there are some things in our history that we just have 
to face head on. But the role of teachers is to give kids 
critical thinking skills, not tell them how to feel about 
certain events. So again Mr. Secretary, I just admire you and 
your leadership is just a demonstration of true educators and 
what we are, who we are and what we do.
    I could talk for days about education, but I want to focus 
my questions around IDEA while I have you here. This past year 
has been devastating for educators and for special education 
students and that population and those families. When Congress 
passed IDEA, they promised to cover 40 percent of the cost of 
special education.
    In other words, they would pay for nearly half of the 
additional cost required to educate students with disabilities. 
Unfortunately, Congress has never fulfilled that promise. The 
number of students with disabilities served under IDEA has 
increased by 25 percent, and as you stated the Federal 
Government, even with the increases proposed, it would only 
bring us to about 16 percent.
    So just, I know you already described what the plan would 
do. I just, I have two questions. I'll just ask them right now 
so I can yield the rest of my time to you. Under your 
leadership, will you commit to continuing these types of 
investments in IDEA and being intentional and aggressive about 
helping us to try to reach that 40 percent threshold.
    And then my second question is something I know you care 
deeply about because I've worked on several committees and task 
forces with you on this issue, diversifying the educator 
pipeline and infusing the pipeline. I introduced the Save 
Education Jobs Act, the Diversify Act, the Teacher Diversity 
and Retention Act to build on some of the work we did back in 
Connecticut.
    Can you talk a little bit about how this budget will 
improve teacher partnerships, infuse the pipeline, and make 
sure that we have the best people standing in front of our kids 
who are adequately prepared?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much Congresswoman Hayes. 
It's nice to see you, and I appreciated your comment from the 
perspective of a history teacher. You said it best, and that's 
why I feel like I trust my educators. They know what they're 
doing. They know children. They went to school for this. 
They're professionals. We can get it right, we will get it 
right, and we will be stronger as a country as a result of 
that.
    And you--you're absolutely right about special education. 
You know, we're hoping to get to 15 percent of the 40 percent 
that was promised, right, exactly. So yes, to answer your 
question, yes. We're going to be aggressive. We're going to 
make sure that we continue to push for the students with 
disabilities and getting the support that they need, especially 
post-pandemic.
    I don't have to tell you the impacts on students with 
disabilities, how profound it was and how for some students 
opening up a laptop and being in front of it for a long time, 
they can get some. But for students with disabilities, it 
doesn't really cut it. So we need to do more and this 
commitment here is hopefully going to translate into better 
support for our students with disabilities. So yes, yes on 
that, definitely. We want to see that happening more.
    And in teacher diversification, you know, your leadership--
when you were an educator in Waterbury, really moved the needle 
to make sure that our professional teaching staff reflect the 
beautiful diversity of our communities. And you know, there's 
the data is like half the students across the country identify 
themselves as people of color, yet only 20 percent of our 
educators do.
    We need to do more. So there's $100 million to make sure 
that we're getting this right, that we're investing in programs 
that diversify the ranks. I love the grow your own programs, 
programs that you were a part of, to make sure that our 
students see themselves as teachers. Like me when that teacher 
tapped on my shoulder and said, hey, would you consider?
    We need to do more of that. We need to have programs there. 
We also have to be creative and innovative about how we recruit 
people of color into the profession. So yes, I'm very big on 
that. All students benefit when we do it right. There's funding 
here for that. There's a desire there and there's partners like 
you that are going to make sure that we get it done right.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I'm so proud of you, 
and with that I yield back Mr. Chair.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you, and we've scheduled a 2-minute 
break at this point. But before we break, I want to remind our 
Members that we need to respect each other's--we need to 
respect each other during the time that someone else is 
controlling the time.
    During the time controlled by my colleague from Virginia, 
Mr. Good, I couldn't quite hear what it was but obviously it 
was an inappropriate comment that was out of order. So we want 
to remind people to respect each other and not let that occur 
again.
    At this point, we will have a ten--minute break and as soon 
as the Secretary returns, we will--we will--is it Ms. McClain? 
Ms. McClain will be the first one to ask questions.
    (Whereupon a short recess was taken, to reconvene this same 
day.)
    Chairman Scott. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. We'll now move on 
to the gentlelady from Michigan, Ms. McClain. Ms. McClain, I 
think you're on mute.
    Ms. McClain. Is that good? Can you hear me?
    Chairman Scott. We can hear you now.
    Ms. McClain. All right, thank you Chairman. Mr. Secretary, 
I want to thank you for being here today. I'll get right to it. 
I've heard you State today that, children often require 
different learning techniques in order to understand the 
material. Some learn better in classroom, lectures, more hands-
on lab work; correct?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, yes.
    Ms. McClain. OK, and that ensuring that students have 
access to educational environments that fit their learning 
styles with especially in a focus for those who are 
economically disadvantaged and maybe come from some diverse 
backgrounds. That that environment is critical to their 
success; correct?
    Secretary Cardona. Can you rephrase that? I didn't 
understand what you were asking there.
    Ms. McClain. Let me rephrase it. Do you think ensuring 
students, ensuring that students have access to educational 
environments that fit their learning styles, especially those 
from environmentally economically diversity challenged 
students?
    Secretary Cardona. I think students learn in different ways 
as you mentioned earlier, and my focus on those students who 
were from areas that need additional support is ensuring that 
after the pandemic, we're addressing their needs.
    Ms. McClain. Perfect, thank you. Mr. Secretary, the charter 
school program is a critical grant program helping numerous 
students and families find the school that best fits their 
needs. Yet President Biden's budget calls for a 41 percent 
increase in funding, which is wonderful. However, the charter 
school program is flat. Why have so many grown hostile to 
charter schools when research shows that their effectiveness, 
especially for those in need of high-quality education is 
there?
    Secretary Cardona. As I shared in previous testimony, I'm 
not sure that today I did. But I have had experience with 
charter schools in Connecticut, and I've seen great examples of 
charter schools. I've also seen charter schools that need a lot 
of attention, a lot of intervention. But same as the case, same 
as the case--
    Ms. McClain. As well as normal public schools.
    Secretary Cardona. Can I finish my sentence? You're going 
to finish my sentence. Same is the case for your traditional 
non-charter schools. So I recognize they have a role and many 
of them--
    (Simultaneous speaking.)
    Ms. McClain. But my question is why so flat? Why the budget 
flat? Why are we targeting and so hostile to those charter 
school programs?
    Secretary Cardona. I think the President recognizes the 
importance of making sure that other programs receive funding 
such as Title I. The $20 billion there is really ensuring that 
all students have an opportunity to access school and 
accelerate their learning after the pandemic. So the priorities 
in the budget clearly show that we want to make sure we're 
addressing those places that have been under-invested for 
decades.
    Ms. McClain. But the issue is charter schools provide 
higher ratios of diversities for both students and teachers, 
yet we're discriminating against the charter schools.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
    Ms. McClain. I mean it doesn't look--
    (Simultaneous speaking.)
    Secretary Cardona. 'they're eligible as well for the Title 
I increase that we're hoping gets your support--
    (Simultaneous speaking.)
    Ms. McClain. So you're saying that charter schools are 
getting an increase, that it is not a flat budget?
    Secretary Cardona. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying 
that the funding priorities that the President made, makes sure 
that students who have great need are getting access to 
additional funds.
    Ms. McClain. But yet they have to use the public school to 
do that? I'll move on.
    Secretary Cardona. Public charter schools are also a part 
of that but go ahead.
    Ms. McClain. I'll move on. Will you commit to working with 
me and my colleagues to strengthen and support the schools in 
the charter school program?
    Secretary Cardona. I'm committed to working with you and 
others to make sure that all schools are successful, including 
charter schools. So yes.
    Ms. McClain. Thank you, and then one last comment I do want 
to make is I've heard all today about the Critical Race Theory. 
We've talked about that. That is an issue; is that correct? 
That is an issue that is coming up. Whether good or bad, I'm 
not here to debate that right now. My question is we are 
talking about Critical Race Theory; correct?
    Secretary Cardona. We have been talking a lot in this 
conversation--
    Ms. McClain. Right. My thought process is that is some of 
the Members on the other side of the aisle have criticized 
myself and some of my colleagues, that they don't believe we 
are even talking about Critical Race Theory. So I just wanted 
to clear that up, and I will yield the balance of my time back 
to Representative Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you. I want to say Mr. Secretary, we all 
oppose discrimination in any form, and a lawsuit was recently 
brought against the Department challenging its implementation 
of Title IX exemption for colleges and universities which have 
a religious mission. On June 8th, the Department of Justice 
intervened in the case, indicating DOG (sic.) would vigorously 
defend the religious exemption.
    However, it seems DOJ may be backtracking. Reports have 
also indicated Department of Education may revisit the 
religious liberty and free inquiry final rule.
    Chairman Scott. I'd ask the Ranking Member that you were 
yielded with 12 seconds left. There's no way you can get a 
question in and an answer.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you. I will pursue this during my time, Mr. 
Chairman. I do note that you guys have gone over five minutes 
and we've gone over 2-1/2. But I'll wait, Mr. Chairman. Thank 
you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentleman from Michigan, Mr. 
Levin.
    Mr. Levin. Thanks Mr. Chairman for hosting this incredibly 
important hearing and thank you Secretary Cardona for spending 
all this time with us. It was great to have you in Macomb 
County, and it's great to see you here before the Committee.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Mr. Levin. The American Rescue Plan made a historic set of 
investments in education after what at times felt like 
insurmountable challenges and pressures on our school leaders, 
our teachers, our parents and above all our students. However, 
my colleagues across the aisle continue to insist the ARP's 
investment in our schools wasn't necessary, claiming we don't 
need more funding for schools because we have more than we can 
spend.
    I can testify that that's definitely not the situation in 
Michigan. The Republican leadership within our State 
legislature continues to use the budgetary process to withhold 
critical funds. Meanwhile, the superintendents in Michigan's 
9th District have told me personally that this funding is 
desperately needed to support our students as we come out of 
this crisis.
    Many school districts face budget deadlines on June 30th, 
like 6 days from now, while we wait in uncertainty for our 
legislature to stop playing political games. Ms. Piper Bognar, 
the superintendent at Van Dyke Public Schools, described the 
situation in Michigan as follows, and I'm quoting from a letter 
she sent me.
    ``Education funding has become an unsteady system, one in 
which our children become pawns in hopes that someone somewhere 
will say the magic words to convince our majority,'' in the 
State legislature that is, ``that their future in the most 
advantaged country in the world is worth funding.''
    Secretary Cardona, the American Rescue Plan requires states 
to allocate ARP funds in an expedited and timely manner, and to 
the extent practicable not later than 60 days after the State 
receives the funds. Do you know how many states are 
distributing funds within the 60 days, and for states that are 
not meeting this deadline, what has the Department heard from 
these states?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman Levin for that, 
and I appreciate the sentiments of the superintendent, who is 
absolutely right. We shouldn't be questioning whether or not 
the funds are needed. I can tell you that programs are being 
planned over the summer into the fall to recoup some of the 
loss.
    We're making sure that class sizes are adequate for 
students that are coming back. We're making sure that the 
social and emotional needs of students are being cared for when 
they come back. We shouldn't be--we shouldn't be wondering 
whether or not those funds are going to be there with regards 
to maintenance [inaudible]----
    We work really--we put out guidance on that before we even 
put out guidance on what the plan should look like, because we 
wanted to make sure that folks know. This doesn't mean--this 
Federal support doesn't mean that they don't have their 
responsibilities at the State and local level, where they've 
also received ARP funds to do what they need to do around 
education.
    So we've had over 100 calls. We've had webinars with 
states, and we've actually had conversations with specific 
offices, to make sure that they're following the expectations 
that we have and the rules that you laid out with the American 
Rescue Plan, to get the funds into the schools and that they're 
doing their part.
    So ongoing conversations and we'll continue to do that to 
make sure that students aren't being shortchanged here.
    Mr. Levin. Well so for states like my home State of 
Michigan that are delaying funds to school districts due to 
legislative or budgetary processes, I want to know what you 
think the Department can do or what we can do to help you. We 
want to partner with you to make sure these states expedite 
allocating the money to the school districts in a timely 
manner. So whatever we can do to partner with you, we want to 
do.
    Secretary Cardona. Right. We have 35 states that have 
already moved forward before the June 7th or on June 7th 
deadline. There are 15 states that have legislative processes 
that are holding it back, but we're in communication with 
those. But that doesn't mean that the distribution of funds 
that they currently have getting to the schools should be 
delayed at all.
    As you know, two-thirds of the allotment was already 
distributed, and those funds should be making their way to the 
classrooms. And it doesn't mean that the State has not put in 
their part. So happy to have more conversation with you. Happy 
to have our team followup as needed, to make sure that that's 
happening.
    Mr. Levin. Well thanks Mr. Secretary. I just need my 
colleagues to understand that when we refuse to fund our 
education system with the necessary investments and resources, 
we fail the children of this country and we deprive our 
hopeful, bright and striving kids of the future that they 
deserve.
    Mr. Secretary, I look forward to working with you to get 
the America's College Promise Act done, to get the Jobs Act 
done, to you know, relieve student debt and so many other 
things. You are a breath of fresh air sir, straight from the 
front lines of real public education in this country, and we're 
delighted to have you. With that Mr. Chairman, I'm yielding 
back with my time expired. Thank you.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Next will be the gentlelady from 
Tennessee, Ms. Harshbarger.
    Ms. Harshbarger. Thank you, Chairman and Ranking Member, 
and thank you Secretary Cardona for being here today. I 
appreciate that. I have a couple of yes or no questions and the 
first is do you believe the public deserves to know if our 
adversaries are funneling money into our research institutes. 
That's the first one. Is that a yes or a no?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes.
    Ms. Harshbarger. OK. Well you know, and I know other 
colleagues have talked about that. Do you think it's time we 
start putting stricter penalties in place for that non-
compliance?
    Secretary Cardona. Well it's more than a yes or no response 
to that. I think we have to make sure that the systems that we 
have set up to monitor this and to work with our universities 
is clear and transparent, and we have to make sure that we're 
doing our work to--due diligence to buildup those systems, 
communicate them.
    So without having understanding right now specifically 
about which universities or which programs you're talking 
about, I would tell you that I am committed to working with you 
and others to make sure that these concerns are being 
addressed, looked into and we're transparently communicating 
what we're doing.
    Ms. Harshbarger. All right. I'm going to switch topics and 
just ask a yes or no and then we'll go into that. Do you 
support a women's right to earn an athletic scholarship sir?
    Secretary Cardona. I support all students' rights to do 
well in sports and earn scholarships.
    Ms. Harshbarger. OK. Well, I take that as a yes, and my 
next question is why is a supporter of women's rights to earn a 
scholarship did the Department of Education change the 
definition of Title IX to allow biological men calling 
themselves women to compete for scholarships against biological 
women, and why did the Department do so via press release 
rather than the traditional rulemaking without the input of 
stakeholders?
    Secretary Cardona. We emphatically support all students 
taking advantage of all opportunities in our schools including 
athletics, the arts, and that includes transgender students. So 
that's something that we stand firm with, and we recognize that 
discrimination against any students is unacceptable, and we 
stand strong there.
    Ms. Harshbarger. Well you know, I'm looking at a new 
national survey that says 74 percent of Americans want to keep 
sports single sex, and I have been in the health care field as 
a pharmacist for 35 years sir, and science tells us that men 
biologically develop muscle mass much quicker than women.
    And personally, I believe that you're doing women just such 
a real disservice by allowing men to compete and win 
scholarships that should be reserved for biological women. And 
that's my statement. It's not just me talking; it's 74 percent 
of America basically wants single sex sports.
    So just wanted to get you on the record for that. Now I 
want to yield the balance of my time to Dr. Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary, following up 
what I started before when I began, we want students to have 
the opportunity to attend an institution that best fits their 
needs, both academically and personally. At the same time, we 
must recognize the fundamental rights guaranteed in the First 
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including freedom of 
religion, which extends to universities with sincerely held 
religious missions.
    Can you confirm today that you will uphold the Title IX 
religious exemption as it currently is applied?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, through our OCR Office we will.
    Ms. Foxx. Will you commit to continuing to respect 
religious missions of universities as well as the right to 
faith-based student organizations to organize under their faith 
at their college or university?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes.
    Ms. Foxx. OK. The Office of Federal Student Aid was set up 
as an apolitical performance-based organization because it is 
the operational arm of the Federal student loan program. It is 
supposed to manage and oversee operational aspects of an over 
one trillion Federal student loan program. The operational arm, 
Section 141 of the Higher Ed Act requires the appointment of 
the COO of FSA shall be made on the basis of demonstrated 
management ability and expertise in information technology, 
including experience with financial systems and without regard 
to political affiliation or activity.
    All the previous COOs have demonstrated experience in 
running them. However, the current COO has run in numerous 
elections, held elected office. While I appreciate his 
expertise at the CFPB, that does not equate to actual 
experience in information technology and financial systems.
    Our constituents take their repayment obligations 
seriously, and they need to know FSA is not playing political 
games with their financial livelihoods. Mr. Secretary, Mr. 
Cordray himself has made comments about not understanding what 
the job really entails.
    Given his questionable qualifications, his own comments, 
why should the 40 million student loan borrowers and their 
families have confidence that Mr. Cordray has the operational 
experience necessary to run the student aid programs?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congresswoman. I have 
complete confidence in Richard Cordray. He comes from consumer 
protection. We need student protection, and we're going to 
fight to make sure that all of our students have access to 
quality programs and get a good return on investment and go 
through processes that are simpler, so that they can take 
advantage of higher education like all other students.
    Ms. Foxx. And I hope you're going to protect the taxpayers' 
dollars also. You're not ever talking about that and neither do 
our colleagues. The money that's funding those programs is 
coming from hard-working taxpayers. Thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady from Michigan, 
Ms. Stevens.
    Ms. Stevens. Well, but we've been a Michigan row here. 
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair and thank you Mr. Secretary. This 
is the first time I've had a chance to really congratulate you 
on your leadership post in our Federal Government on behalf of 
the United States of America. I just wanted to let you know 
we've all been so proud of you and know you've got your hands 
full.
    And you've given great testimony and, you know, been 
answering a lot of questions today, just showcasing your deep 
knowledge and passion for American education and what so many 
are relying on through our schools. Obviously, the learning 
experience that our young people have gotten, particularly this 
last year and a half where it's been so challenging and so 
different. So you certainly are the right person for the right 
time sir, and you know, over the last year, and this is 
something we've seen in Michigan and something I'm really 
passionate about with our skilled trades and our career and 
technical education, our CTE training programs that, you know, 
some of the first calls I made when the shutdown began with our 
pandemic, you know.
    What's going to happen to these programs, and they really 
couldn't operate at full clip, you know. I've seen that from 
Open University down to Schoolcraft, our Oakland Technical 
Campuses, which are a real delight. I want to get you in and 
see those.
    But can you just shed a little bit more light on what the 
Department is doing to help states and local areas address some 
of these missed learning opportunities that we've experienced, 
particularly for CTE over the last year and some?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much, Representative 
Stevens. You know, we need to make sure that when we talk about 
building back better, CTE has to really--we really need to 
double down on what we're doing there. I look at it, if we 
continue the way we've done it, we're going to have a missed 
opportunity here, to make sure that our pathways going from 
middle school to high school to the 2-year programs are clear, 
and they address the workforce needs that exist.
    I don't have to tell you, Michigan in my opinion, is the 
leader in this. Where we have the workforce needs out there, we 
have to connect the dots and make sure that our K-12 system, 
our community college system is connected and talking to--
they're talking to one another. There's 1.47 billion in 
discretionary requests to support that work.
    You know, there's 128 million increase over the Fiscal Year 
2021 to do this work. There's a commitment not only with 
resources, but with intent for us to evolve our system to do a 
better job connecting CTE into our K-12 institutions, toward 2-
year colleges. With the American Family Plans, there's just an 
opportunity here for our country to really rebound.
    21 percent earning potential increase for students who 
graduate community college. We have a lot of work to do and I'm 
excited about doing it.
    Ms. Stevens. Yes, and I remember when I was working on the 
U.S. auto rescue in the Department of Treasury. We spent some 
time thinking about our manufacturing communities and really 
working with the Department of Education and your voc ed agency 
on, you know, helping to meet our skills gap and employment 
opportunities.
    And then the other subject too I just wanted to get to, Mr. 
Secretary with the remainder of my time, is the automatic 
suspension of monthly payments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic 
offered immense relief to Federal student loan borrowers, 
allowing them to focus on other essential needs for their 
health and safety and that of just their families.
    Obviously, the COVID-19 emergency relief flexibilities on 
Federal student loans are now set to expire in the next three 
short months. What resources or guidance does the Department 
plan to offer to borrowers and servicers that are concerned 
with the quickly approaching repayment deadline?
    Secretary Cardona. Sure, thank you for that and you're 
absolutely right, you know. Over one million borrowers whose 
loans were paused saved over $5 billion a month, and that 
allowed them to help recover from the pandemic. We understand 
that as we start thinking about reinstating, we have to have 
really clear communication with our borrowers, make sure that 
we're empathetic to where they are, make sure that we're 
keeping them at the center.
    It can't be just turning on the loan again and not being 
clear on communication, making sure that our lenders are 
working with us to make sure that we're keeping the students at 
the center, and recognizing that in many cases other parts of 
pauses are done and they're paying rent now and their mortgage 
and going back to work and children going back to school.
    There's a lot of different moving parts. We have to be 
sensitive to the borrowers, and make sure that we're 
communicating quickly and frequently.
    Ms. Stevens. Great. Thank you so much and Mr. Chair, I 
yield back my time.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady from Illinois, 
Ms. Miller.
    Ms. Miller. Thank you, Chairman, Ranking Member Foxx, and 
Secretary Cardona. Your department recently released this 
resource for students and families called ``Confronting Anti-
LGBTQ I+ Harassment in Schools.'' This document gives an 
example of harassment, which is a teacher telling students that 
there are only two genders, boys, and girls. Before we start 
penalizing teachers for stating a genetic and biological fact 
about genders, can you please clarify for the Committee how 
many genders there are?
    Secretary Cardona. So I know what you're asking, but I'm 
going to get to the root of what you're asking. I feel very 
strongly that as educators--
    Ms. Miller. I'm not--
    Secretary Cardona [continuing]. we are, it's our 
responsibility to protect all students.
    Ms. Miller. You used as an example of harassment a teacher 
who stated there are only two genders, male and female. That's 
a genetic and biological fact. That is an example you are, 
under your leadership that you're putting out to people. How 
many genders are there?
    Secretary Cardona. What would you respond to a student who 
is non-binary in your classroom?
    Ms. Miller. But how many genders are there? Will you please 
state--
    Secretary Cardona. I won't be answering your question. You 
can continue your line of questioning.
    Ms. Miller. OK. Well, this resource also says that 
preventing a male student from joining a sports team, you see? 
Can you pick out the male? The male student from joining a 
sports team designated for females constitutes harassment under 
Title IX. Mr. Secretary, can you please confirm that the 
Department's interpretation of Title IX requires schools to 
allow transgender girls, in other words biological males who 
claim to identify as female that have significant advantages in 
size and strength, to compete on female-only sports teams?
    Secretary Cardona. Title IX protects all students against 
sex discrimination or gender identity. All students, no 
exceptions.
    Ms. Miller. So you're saying your interpretation is going 
to force girls to play against larger, stronger, biological 
males in sports?
    Secretary Cardona. I think you're missing the point here, 
where students need to feel welcome into our schools, and we 
need to create welcoming environments. We recognize that sports 
and other extracurricular activities are opportunities for 
students to engage and build team-building skills, set goals 
for themselves and continue to thrive.
    I don't promote any type of discrimination toward any 
students, and Title IX reinforces that.
    Ms. Miller. But it is promoting it when you use as an 
example that it's harassment to not allow biological males to 
participate in female sports, which will be the end of women's 
athletics.
    Secretary Cardona. That is incorrect.
    Ms. Miller. There are those of us who remember 7th grade 
biology. We're taught that there are only two sexes in the 
human species. Does the Department plan to investigate and then 
penalize teachers under Title IX who continue to teach the 
biological fact that there are two sexes?
    Secretary Cardona. This is another example where it 
demonstrates a lack of confidence in our educators to be able 
to meet our students where they are and welcome them into 
school environments that are free of discrimination and 
harassment.
    Going back to my opening comments when I heard from 
students at Harvey Milk School, they want schools that embrace 
them and welcome them and provide nurturing environments. 
That's what I'm going to stand behind 100 percent. Title IX 
reinforces that, and the students that I speak to that are in 
school today respect that and appreciate that and they want 
that from their educators and their leaders. That's what 
they're going to get from me as Secretary of Education.
    Ms. Miller. Thank you. Your interpretation and leadership, 
preventing a student from using an opposite sex bathroom would 
constitute harassment under Title IX. Can you explain how 
schools are going to stop male students from claiming they 
identify as female just to access the girl's restroom? Do 
schools have the ability to challenge a student's professed 
gender identity to prevent sexual harassment in schools?
    Secretary Cardona. I have complete confidence in the 
educators across the country who have been dealing with this. 
This isn't new in our schools. I invite you to speak to 
educators across the country and visit a school where they've 
successfully created a sense of community while accepting 
students from transgender students and students who are not 
identified as transgender, who are able to learn together and 
support one another. We can learn a lot from our students and a 
lot from our schools.
    Ms. Miller. Mr. Secretary, I'm truly shocked at your 
position on these issues. While I have nothing but sympathy for 
those who struggle with gender confusion, instead of offering 
these kids help your department is planning to punish schools 
who attempt to protect girls privacy and support female 
athletics.
    Our school administrators and teachers have better things 
to do then enforce the Biden administration's extreme gender 
ideology. I am disappointed that you are advocating for a few 
students to feel safe, but not advocating for the majority of 
girls who will not feel safe or comfortable under your rules 
and guidance.
    I have five daughters. They would feel extremely 
uncomfortable either on the sports teams or in the locker 
rooms, and also you--I want to remind you as a former Member 
brought up, 74 percent of Americans agree that you're on the 
wrong side of this issue. And also it is true if men are 
allowed to compete in women's sports, the sports will be 
dominated by men.
    Just in 2017, Olympic world and U.S. champion Tori Bowie's 
100-meter lifetime best of 10.78 seconds was beaten 15,000 
times by men and boys.
    Chairman Scott. The gentlelady's time has expired. Can you 
finish up?
    Ms. Miller. Thank you, and I yield to Dr. Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Mr. Chairman, I'm well aware that the 
gentlelady's time has expired. We're now about even.
    Chairman Scott. OK, thank you. The gentlelady's time has 
expired. We may, the Ranking Member and I may have to go to the 
floor for a bill. I'll be handing the gavel over to another 
Member. So I recognize myself for questions at this time.
    Mr. Secretary first, just a simple question. Has the 
Supreme Court weighed in on the issue of transgender 
discrimination? They've had a number of different cases on this 
point, is that right? You're on mute, yes.
    Secretary Cardona. Sorry sir. Sir, we're aware of our Title 
IX rules and we plan to enforce them, and I understand that 
this is an issue that's being brought up here. But we stand 
firm with our Title IX regulations.
    Chairman Scott. And try to comply with the Supreme Court?
    Secretary Cardona. We have to, to protect all students.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, the Congress has 
appropriated significant funding for K through 12 education 
under the American Rescue Plan, and previous COVID-19 relief 
bills. Are you putting in a mechanism to oversee how this money 
is spent, to make sure that the money's being spent well?
    Secretary Cardona. We have plans that are being submitted 
and reviewed carefully and responded to by our Office of 
Elementary and Secondary Education, and where necessary we're 
having conversations and meetings with different states to 
ensure that equity and stakeholder engagement are a part of it.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. One of the things that we 
frequently hear is that the money that's been appropriated 
hasn't been spent, but there is a difference between spending 
the money and obligating the money. Obviously if you hire a 
teacher today, you're not going to spend that money today. 
You're going to spend it over the next at least 1 year if not 
more than that, depending on how long the contract is.
    Can you say a word about the difference between obligations 
and spending?
    Secretary Cardona. Sure. Thank you for that and, you know, 
this reminds me of the conversations I had when I was 
Commissioner of Education with the superintendents. You know, 
we're committing to hiring new teachers, but that money will be 
drawn down as the contract, you know, as the teacher's 
teaching, as the years go on.
    Two-thirds of the money has been obligated already, and I 
think that's pretty remarkable given that we're 15 months into 
this pandemic. So I do think educators are being very careful 
with the dollars. It was mentioned earlier to make sure that 
we're protecting taxpayer dollars, that's what's happening. 
Superintendents are protecting taxpayer dollars, ensuring that 
the money goes to where it's needed most.
    And I think, you know, the majority of it has been 
obligated already. The drawdown will happen as the services are 
delivered.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. At one-point last year we 
understood that about 100 percent of the money had been 
obligated, but obviously not spent. So we need to be careful 
about the language we're using, to make sure we're being 
accurate.
    Under the proposed budget, Title I funding is significantly 
being increased, primarily by creating a new Section G under 
Title I. Can you explain why Title I funding is being 
significantly increased by creating a new Section G, rather 
than putting the money into Title IA?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that question and an 
opportunity to clarify. Title IA certainly meets needs of 
students and it is intended to address some of the inequities 
that currently exist, with support for students in greatest 
need. The way this was rolled out is because there are--while 
we definitely want to make sure that we're also addressing 
students whose needs are most impacted, we want to have an 
opportunity to examine how post-pandemic those needs might have 
shifted a bit and be able to address those.
    It's going to complement Title IA, Part 1A, but it provides 
an opportunity for us to listen to stakeholders, to see what 
post-pandemic needs there are so that the funds could also 
address those.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. In the President's 
infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, there's 100 
billion set aside for school infrastructure evenly split 
between grants and bonding authority. The Reopen and Rebuild 
America's Schools Act provides $100 billion in grants and 30 
billion additional dollars in bonding. Could you please speak 
to the importance of grant funding for high poverty school 
districts in financing their school construction?
    Secretary Cardona. I'd be happy to Congressman. It's best 
illustrated in the visit that I had to a school in 
Philadelphia, where the building was over 130, 140 years old. 
The ventilation system was very old and needed a lot of work, 
and that prevented students from coming in at the same rate as 
students in other communities, the actual facilities.
    Unfortunately, the first thing to go in many budgets, local 
budgets is facilities management or upkeep or upgrades, and the 
pandemic brought that to bear. Now we know that in many cases 
schools in urban districts, the schools haven't been kept up or 
modernized in many years.
    So the funding in the proposals are critical to make sure 
that we level the playing field and that all students can go 
into schools that are optimal for learning and for success.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. My time has expired. Dr. Foxx, 
did you want to be recognized at this point?
    Ms. Foxx. Yes sir.
    Chairman Scott. The gentlelady from North Carolina, the 
distinguished Ranking Member Dr. Foxx is recognized for five 
minutes.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Cardona, I 
want to say I think you can be a fabulous role model in the job 
that you're in, and I note with great interest that you smile 
greatly when you talk about CTE and other programs like CTE and 
helping students gain careers. So I appreciate that very much, 
and I think you do know a lot about that and can be very, very 
positive in that role. But I do have some other questions 
related to particularly borrowers and student loan issues.
    In Spring 2020, Congress and the Department took active--
acted quickly to provide relief to student borrowers. These 
relief measures have been subsequently extended and expanded on 
several occasions. One of these expansions occurred on March 
2021 when you announced a process for ``special mandatory 
assignment'' for newly defaulted FFEL borrowers, whose loans 
are managed by guarantee agencies.
    It's my understanding this will impact roughly 200,000 
borrowers. Why is the Department initiating this process?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes, thank you. We recognize that 
borrowers need support, and we want to make sure that we're 
providing it to all borrowers who we can provide support to and 
relief, so they can get back on their feet before repaying.
    Ms. Foxx. But do you realize that this is going to have a 
negative impact on these borrowers, as they will still have a 
default on their credit report from the lenders? How does it 
plan to address that?
    Secretary Cardona. You know, we want to make sure that 
we're addressing the needs of our borrowers, and we're 
recognizing the challenges that are provided. We want to work 
with them to hear the negative impact they're having.
    I can assure you I want to hear your perspective on this 
and work with you, to make sure that we can help our borrowers 
when they leave and make sure that our FSA and our Department 
is supporting our borrowers and addressing whatever issues they 
have, problem-solving with them and with you to give them the 
best experience.
    Ms. Foxx. Well according to the Higher Ed Act, in order to 
initiate the ``mandatory assignment process,'' the Secretary 
must determine it is in the ``Federal fiscal interest.'' So how 
much does the Department estimate this will cost versus leaving 
the borrowers with guarantee agencies? Remember those hard-
working taxpayers again.
    Secretary Cardona. Always, Representative Foxx. I think 
it's really important that we communicate that we're balancing 
protecting our borrowers and making sure we're protecting 
taxpayer dollars as well. We're looking at all available 
options, and we want to make sure that in this process, we're 
listening to our borrowers but also to the challenges that come 
forward that you're bringing up.
    Ms. Foxx. Well we'll hold you to your commitment to work 
with us on this issue. Mr. Secretary, the value of a college 
degree is that it can create more employment opportunities, 
lead to higher earning, and produce an overall positive return 
on investment following graduation.
    While we all agree that the top priority for education 
institutions should be to prepare students for post-college 
success, far too many institutions have been inadequate in 
doing so and have faced little or no repercussions.
    In fact, while just one in four community college students 
graduates in 4 years, your department has proposed giving these 
institutions hundreds of billions of dollars without any 
assurances to taxpayers that such schools will improve student 
outcomes, all the while punishing schools graduating twice as 
many of their students simply because they're classified as 
for-profits or taxpaying institutions.
    Instead of penalizing schools based on their tax status, I 
think it's time we judge the quality of an institution by the 
ability to serve its students. Can you commit to holding all 
institutions accountable for poor student outcomes, not just 
those that pay taxes to the Federal Government?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Representative Foxx. Yes, 
increased commitment--you have an increased commitment. We're 
going to be monitoring the return on investment for all. But I 
have to comment, community colleges also provide a very wide 
net for people that probably would not consider college, but 
those community colleges are a great place for them to start.
    We have to do better with graduation rates, but I also want 
to applaud their efforts to bring students in that wouldn't 
ever be considered in some other institutions.
    Ms. Foxx. I know. I spent 7 years as the president of one. 
So to followup on our concerns about the management of FSA and 
the apparent disconnect between yourself and COO Cordray on the 
decisions being made regarding Federal student aid. These 
concerns are exacerbated by the fact that it appears a sitting 
U.S. Senator has been heavily involved in the decisionmaking 
process at both FSA and the Department.
    Just this week, it was reported that Senator Elizabeth 
Warren is holding up the nomination of James Kvaal for 
Undersecretary of Education until changes are made to FSA's 
administration of student loans. Why is Senator Warren running 
higher education policy via proxy staff?
    Secretary Cardona. So I can tell you I look forward to 
having James Kvaal join the team. Really, we need to get to 
work. We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. I don't 
know that anyone else is working through a proxy. I can tell 
you that we're eager to have a full team, so we can do what we 
were hired to do, which is serve our students both in K-12 and 
higher education.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Chairman Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady's time has 
expired. At this time, I'm going to hand the gavel over to the 
gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands, Mr. Sablan, Mr. 
Sablan, and the next person to be recognized would be Ms. Leger 
Fernandez. Mr. Sablan.
    Mr. Sablan. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Chairman Scott. Next 
up the gentlelady from New Mexico, Ms. Leger Fernandez. You 
have five minutes please.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you so very much and thank you 
Secretary Cardona for appearing and answering the many 
questions you have with such respect and knowledge. I 
appreciate your demeanor, as well as your passion for 
education. So you know, I'm from New Mexico and the Native 
American populations across this country were among the most 
academically vulnerable and under-resourced groups before the 
pandemic.
    But according to the American Indian Education Foundation, 
the rate of high school graduation for American Indian students 
is 46 percent compared to the national average of 89 percent. 
As you know, the negative impacts of COVID-19 have only widened 
pre-existing disparities.
    Could you explain and discuss what steps the Department is 
taking to support Native American students?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much for that question, 
and you know we've talked a lot about making sure that we're 
targeting students that require additional support, and that 
were negatively impacted by the pandemic. I appreciate this 
opportunity to speak to that.
    I recently met with Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, and 
we talked about our passion and our commitment to work together 
to model what we want to see across our country with regard to 
Indian education and Departments of Education. We have an 
opportunity here to really lift up our Indian education and our 
students.
    So in addition to the funds to support recovering from the 
pandemic, you're going to see a renewed interest in making sure 
that we're lifting up good examples of great education for 
Indian American students and making sure that we're addressing 
and listening to them to see what their needs are.
    I think it's critically important that we don't come in 
saying this is what you need. They don't need that. What they 
need is to be partners at the table to tell us what they're 
experiencing and how we can best support them. And I look 
forward to that partnership starting very soon and getting out 
there and visiting Indian country to listen directly to the 
students and to the families.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you very much Secretary Cardona. 
We have some very good examples in New Mexico. The Santa Fe 
Indian School, which is a BIA tribally run school but also the 
Native American community academy knockoff (phonetic), which do 
amazing jobs and send their students to Harvard and Yale and 
Stanford and the University of New Mexico.
    I want to touch a bit on an issue that just came up before 
I was able to get on the hearing with regards to, you know, a 
conversation I was having with the director of our major cancer 
center in UNM.
    We've been talking about the fact that we have a great need 
for public health professionals, and that as we come out of the 
pandemic and look at the need to address the disparities in 
health outcomes, it also means that we are going to need more 
students who graduate and come out with a public health 
perspective.
    We're going to need more doctors; we're going to need more 
nurses. Some of that is going to be available as we fund the 
community colleges that we were just talking about, and as we 
provide more funds to minority-serving institutions. 23 of our 
29 institutions in New Mexico are minority-serving, but I think 
having an emphasis on developing more of those medical 
professionals.
    What is the Department of Education doing with regards to 
trying to anticipate that public health need?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that question. You know I 
think all educators and educational leaders over the last year 
have become quasi-epidemiologists or having--had to learn a lot 
more about epidemiology than we ever thought we would have to. 
But it really paints the picture of where we need to go as a 
country, and if our educational system doesn't evolve with 
that, we're going to miss an opportunity to give our students 
success, an opportunity for success in careers.
    So what I'd like to see is with the 100 million that's 
going toward CTE development, making sure that we have career 
pathways in our K-12 systems that connect to our community 
colleges, that connect to our 4-year programs, that connect to 
our workforce. Giving students an opportunity to get into 
public health, to get into those fields that we know we need 
moving forward, so that we're prepared in the medical field, in 
the health field to address whatever comes our way.
    We really need to be predictive and work with our colleges 
and work with our workforce partners and work with our industry 
to see what's coming and be prepared before it's here, to get 
our students ready for those careers. I look forward to that 
evolution in our schools. It's something that when I first came 
on board, I mentioned we need to evolve quicker in our high 
schools and in our colleges, and we need to make a through line 
a little bit more explicit.
    Unfortunately, there's a gap that was created between our 
high schools and our colleges, and we have to work hard to make 
sure that we get rid of that, so that our students have a clear 
through line and they look at college as an option earlier. 
6th-7th grade they start thinking about how they're going to go 
on to, whether it's a 2-year program or a 4-year program. We 
need to do a better job with them.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you very much, and I did also 
want to discuss issues around broadband access, but I see my 
time has expired, and I do thank you for your consideration of 
our questions.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much, and the broadband 
issue is something that we need to put in our rearview mirror. 
It's time to close the digital divide. The infrastructure plan 
can help with that. I agree with you on that, thank you.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Now let me recognize 
the gentleman from Utah, Mr. Owens. You have five minutes sir.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you, thank you very much. First of all, 
Mr. Secretary thank you. My parents, both my parents were also 
educators, and they love the profession, and I can tell as I'm 
listening to you that you have that commitment also. I 
appreciate that. This is what our kids need.
    I would like, before I ask a couple of questions, to just 
kind of a note. I'm a father of five girls. I played in the NFL 
for 10 years, and I was just taught good old common sense, and 
that is girl athletes cannot compete against boy athletes. It 
goes back to the same thing of, you know, as much as I want to 
change the laws because we think they might be fair, there's 
laws of gravity, God's laws of gravity that you just can't 
change because we don't, we think it's not fair.
    So I just want to make that point, because I think it's 
very unfair for young ladies to not have the hope and dreams of 
succeeding because they're competing against men, OK, and boys.
    I've spoken to many parents over the past year that are 
frustrated, and feel somewhat hopeless and helpless, felt that 
way due to lack of resources to send their children to another 
school, to resume in-person learning. In 2017 75 percent of the 
black boys in the State of California could not pass standard 
reading and writing tests. In 2019, only 14 percent of the 
black high school students in Baltimore were proficient in 
language arts and only three, and there were three schools that 
had zero percent proficiency in math.
    Whenever the topic comes up, this is--I've experienced this 
over the last 40 or 50 years, whenever the topic comes up with 
children failing children having a choice, it seems to shift to 
the impact of a failing school if the children left. I think 
you would agree and I'm hoping you agree that it is about the 
child, not about the school. Am I correct on that? I'm sorry. 
Oh boy. Can you hear me?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. No, yes.
    Mr. Owens. OK, OK, all right. I'm glad it wasn't me. 
Thanks, because I'm lost with technology. And so Mr. Secretary, 
would you commit to supporting expansion of school choice for 
minority children across our country? This is one of the areas 
that I have a very passion for, because I've watched my 
community that was really into education lose it the last 6 
years because poor children do not have a choice like many 
other children to leave failing schools.
    Secretary Cardona. You know, I think the President made it 
very clear. We're not using Federal dollars to support voucher 
programs. But what I will say, and I appreciate your 
perspective. I appreciate the data you showed. That's alarming. 
That's concerning for any student that's left in that school. 
So what we need to do is make sure we're investing 
appropriately in education, which this plan does, to make sure 
that every school provides the programming and support that all 
students need.
    I agree that those data are unacceptable. I agree that we 
need to double down. But you know, when we have students 
leaving a school because it's underperforming and we're not 
investing the resources in that, the students that are left in 
the school need support as well. So I'm a really big believer--
    Mr. Owens. OK. Can I just--can I just continue real 
quickly. I've heard that for years, and the bottom line is 
because of that attitude, 75 percent of the black boys in the 
State of California are stuck and they do not learn, and they 
don't have the hopes and dreams that you and I have. I would 
think, I would hope that if your children were in those 
schools, that your attitude would be, or the suggestion would 
be how do we change that?
    Don't just leave those kids there to languish because 
schools are not, are not succeeding. That's my frustration. 
I've seen it for decades, and by the way, the voucher system 
was working in D.C. years ago. 93 percent of the kids coming 
through those systems with vouchers were succeeding in going to 
college.
    That was ended when the Obama administration came on board, 
and that went down back to 50, 40 to 50 percent that were 
succeeding. So the voucher program works. What would be the 
solution if you're not going to use a system to support getting 
kids to a better school? How do you support, how do you plan on 
making that happen other than just knowing that it's a problem?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Representative Owens and 
again, I appreciate your passion and I respect where you're 
coming from. You want better and I get that. So do I. You know 
a recent IES study found that 20 percent of the students 
stopped using their voucher after a year and 22 percent didn't 
even use them at all. So my suggestion'and listen this is me 
being a teacher--
    Mr. Owens. OK, 1 second, 1 second. Can I ask another 
question? Are you saying that the kids, the parents who had put 
in for vouchers were not using them? Because right now from 
where I stand, they're lining up by the thousands to get 
vouchers, because they love their kids as much as we love our 
kids. So are you saying that they're not going, they're not 
using the vouchers when they have an opportunity to go to a 
better school?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. Happy to have my staff followup on 
those data points. 20 percent stopped using the voucher after a 
year. 22 percent didn't use them at all an IES study found. 
We'll get that over to you.
    Secretary Cardona. I will, yes. But what I was saying 
earlier is, you know, I went to a school that currently now is 
like 80 percent poverty rate. But we can give those students 
and those schools the tools that they need to be successful. 
Students should be able to be educated in their neighborhood 
school and be successful.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you, thank you. OK, I'm running out of 
time. I just want to say this. This has been going on too long, 
and the answers are not working. We have too many of our kids 
who have never, ever had the opportunity to read and write, to 
have the conversation we're having now because they never learn 
how to think.
    So please address this. It is a major issue. This is the 
next civil rights. We need to make sure our kids are thinking, 
particularly black kids who are told at the same time this 
country doesn't work for them. It will not work if they're not 
educated. So thank you so much. I appreciate it.
    (Simultaneous speaking.)
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much. Nice to talk to 
you.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Owens. I would now like to 
recognize Ms. Omar from Minnesota for five minutes please. Ms. 
Omar.
    Ms. Omar. Thank you, Chairman and thank you Mr. Secretary 
for joining us today. It is really exciting to have the 
opportunity to hear from you the Department's priorities and 
some of the highlights the things that you all have been up to.
    I want to start off by acknowledging the steps the 
Department has taken on improving the existing debt 
cancellation programs targeted at certain populations of 
borrowers, such as the severely disabled, defrauded by their 
colleges and public service workers. This is a really good 
start to a very large problem that is holding millions, 
millions back from pursuing their dreams of home ownership, 
opening a business, and starting a family.
    The Federal Reserve estimates that in the third quarter of 
2020, Americans owed more than $1.7 trillion in student debt. 
That is 45 million people shackled by student debt. While three 
COVID relief bills have provided some relief to struggling 
borrowers, the pandemic has exacerbated the needs of millions 
who were having trouble before the pandemic.
    With millions out of jobs on the verge of eviction, dealing 
with the losses brought by the pandemic, the last thing people 
should be worried about is their student loan debt. In my home 
State of Minnesota, there are over 750,000 student borrowers 
with each owing an average of 35,000.
    We are in a critical moment, where every decision and every 
move we make can impact the lives of generations to come. We 
need to take bold action to cancel student debt and give 
families across the country the opportunity to pursue their 
dreams of home ownership, opening a business and starting a 
family. We need to invest in the future of the American people.
    It can, if we can afford trillions of dollars in tax cuts 
to corporations, we can certainly afford to cancel all student 
debt. When Senator Bernie Sanders and myself first proposed the 
idea of canceling all student debt, we were called radicals. 
Today it is mainstream position of the Democratic Party, and 
millions of Americans across the U.S.
    Democrats and other proponents of canceling the student 
debt argue that the President has the authority to cancel 
student debt under the Higher Education Act of 1965. The truth 
is the President has already exercised that authority by 
pausing the student loan payments during the coronavirus 
pandemic and several lawyers and legal scholars have written 
analyses in support of that view.
    So my question is what is stopping the administration from 
taking this extra step that we've all been calling for, and 
carrying out a cancellation of the student debt?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Representative Omar for your 
passion for the borrowers and the students and promoting the 
loan relief for borrowers. I recognize the challenge it is for 
students who are in debt, who are making decisions and have 
this debt hanging over them. I can assure you that I share your 
concern, to make sure that all students have an opportunity to 
be successful.
    You know, buying a home and as you said starting a family 
or opening up a business are things that shouldn't be 
permanently paused because of significant and unwieldy debt. 
With that said, we are having the White House and DOJ and our 
legal team discussing that, and we're going to continue to do 
that. But I have to really--
    Ms. Omar. Mr. Secretary, I know that there was a memo that 
was supposed to be done by your Department and DOJ. What is the 
status of that memo?
    Secretary Cardona. Sure. So those communications, the DOJ 
and our attorneys are discussing that before anything goes out. 
So it hasn't been--there's nothing public yet. You would have 
information if it were. But they are having those 
conversations.
    But what I wanted to share too is I think it's equally as 
important that we stop the bleeding, that in 5 years from now 
we're not in the same position. So we want to make sure that 
we're really protecting our students and our borrowers with the 
public service loan forgiveness, with the borrower defense and 
the total and permanent disability discharges that we can do 
now, that we know we can do, and we haven't been sitting idle.
    Over $2 billion in relief has been provided in the last 
several months, because we recognize that where we can, we will 
provide support to students. We're going to continue to have 
these conversations. I appreciate your passion and support of 
these students.
    Ms. Omar. I appreciate that Secretary. I look forward to 
seeing that memo released. It is important that we recognize 
incremental changes are--. But this issue is one that is just 
causing lots of damage to the American public, and it is 
important for us to take the critical step of canceling student 
debt. With that, I yield back Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Omar. I now recognize 
Mr. Cawthorn for five minutes.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The 
Department of Education represents one of the most significant 
examples of government overreach in modern America I believe. 
For the past year, this bureaucratic nightmare agency spawned 
from the big government has muzzled our children, shuttered our 
schools, and shoved socialism into the minds of young 
Americans. As a representative government, we must seek to 
protect the America our founders envisioned and fought for. 
Nothing is more critical than protecting the hearts and minds 
of young children who are just now beginning to learn about our 
great nation. I denounce the efforts of the DoE to keep our 
children out of classrooms. I denounce the efforts made to 
indoctrinate them to hate this country using Critical Race 
Theory, and I stand firmly with the parents of young Americans 
everywhere.
    Mr. Secretary, our Committee has heard from parents whose 
children's lives are devastated by their schools refusing to 
reopen, even when the science clearly supported the safe 
reopening of schools and even after the science also proved 
there was a potential significant harm of keeping kids out of 
schools and that had become clear.
    In response to those parents, Democrats have laughingly 
argued that these parents are wrong, and that the teacher 
unions' obstinance on reopening was necessary to protect 
students' well-being. Mr. Secretary, do you agree with the 
parents or the teachers' unions?
    Secretary Cardona. So thank you for the question. My track 
record shows that I've been able to work with parents and 
teachers, to make sure schools open safely and quickly. We were 
able to do that in Connecticut when I was Commissioner of 
Education, and I don't believe the two are mutually exclusive. 
As a matter of fact, many teachers are parents.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Well that's good to know, sir. Well Mr. 
Secretary, the stated purpose of the Department of Education is 
at its core to provide a high-quality education to America's 
youth; correct?
    Secretary Cardona. Correct.
    Mr. Cawthorn. That's good to know, and you firmly believe 
that every effort should be made to provide the highest quality 
education for our youth?
    Secretary Cardona. Yes.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Good sir, good. I'm glad to know that. Mr. 
Secretary, I'm from North Carolina. Have you ever been to 
Hendersonville?
    Secretary Cardona. I've been to North Carolina, but not to 
that community.
    Mr. Cawthorn. OK sir, so I assume based on that, you have 
never been to Hendersonville High?
    Secretary Cardona. Correct.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Good to know. Mr. Secretary, you've never 
spoken with Hendersonville High School's history teachers; 
correct?
    Secretary Cardona. No.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Their English teachers?
    Secretary Cardona. I'm very interested in talking about how 
this budget's going to help students across the country.
    Mr. Cawthorn. I'm sorry Mr. Secretary.
    Secretary Cardona. I know it's your five minutes, but this 
is an opportunity for me to promote the President's plan.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Mr. Secretary, I'm going to claim back my 
time for one moment sir. So you've never visited Haywood County 
Community College, have you?
    Secretary Cardona. No, I have not.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Mr. Secretary, what are the top three 
challenges that you believe the Haywood Community College 
system faces?
    Secretary Cardona. As I said, I haven't spoken to the folks 
that are at the community college, but I can tell you if you 
give me an opportunity to share what I think the priorities are 
for the country, which might overlap with that college.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Well that's good to know, but I understand 
that you don't know because you've never been. I mean how could 
you? You don't know because you're a massive Federal agency 
that simply cannot spend time learning about the specifics of 
every single education institution in this entire country.
    Mr. Secretary, do you know who does know all these ins and 
outs and the specifics? The local government leaders, the 
teachers in Haywood County. Wouldn't you say that they have a 
stronger firsthand knowledge of problems being faced by that 
community than you do?
    Secretary Cardona. I would say that that's why we support 
local and State decisionmaking, yes.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Mr. Secretary, I'm sorry sir. But frankly I 
fail to see how the Department of Education provides any 
services asides from getting in the way of local teachers, 
their parents and officials who understand their communities at 
a much more foundational level than the Federal Government ever 
could.
    I genuinely believe that we should abolish the Federal 
Department of Education. We should send all the education 
resources back to the states and to the parents. Sir, I just--I 
don't see a point for your organization to exist, and with that 
I yield back.
    Mr. Sablan. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Cawthorn. My goodness, some 
Members don't know even know where I'm from. I've been here 13 
years. I now recognize Ms. Manning for five minutes. Thank you.
    Ms. Manning. Thank you so much Mr. Chairman, and thank you 
Mr. Secretary for your patience, for your dedication, for being 
here with us today and for presenting a budget that addresses 
so many other needs in my district, in Hendersonville, North 
Carolina, all across the country.
    Certainly, we need programs that address the learning loss 
our students have experienced, to help our colleges and 
community colleges address the losses they've experienced over 
the past year, to help students with disabilities for whom the 
past year has been particularly difficult. We need more nurses 
and counselors in schools to help students in normal times and 
even more so as our kids try to recover from the pandemic.
    I'm particularly happy that the budget has additional funds 
for HBCUs. I am proud to have three in my district, and that 
the budget increases Pell grants and starts to address the 
enormous problem of student loan debt. Everything you're doing 
to start addressing disparities in education is necessary and 
is so appreciated.
    So let me turn to a challenge that some of our universities 
and colleges are having, and that is the loss of international 
students. Even before the pandemic, the Trump administration's 
rhetoric and policies had a chilling effect on international 
student enrollment at American universities. Their policies 
during the pandemic made it extremely difficult for 
international students to continue their studies in the U.S.
    Can you tell me what the Department of Education is doing 
in conjunction with the State Department, to make sure 
international students can start or continue their studies in 
the U.S. this fall?
    Secretary Cardona. This is an issue that is important to 
us, and we want to make sure that, you know, as was said 
before, America is open. We need to be good partners. We need 
to create welcoming environments for learning and make sure 
that our institutions, the concerns that were shared with our 
agency by the institutions are looked into carefully as we 
again open up our schools and make sure that they're open 
places.
    They're known across the world. So we have to make sure we 
build those bridges again and get back to how it was and even 
better. I think we have an opportunity to really advance it 
even further. I look forward to working with you, with our 
higher education institutions who have communicated this 
concern. I hear them. I look forward to working with them and 
we're going to build back better.
    Ms. Manning. Thank you, and I would just like to mention 
for those who are worried about taxpayer dollars, those 
international students pay full tuition, so we need them here 
in this country.
    Let me move to a different topic. I recently sent you a 
letter expressing my concerns about a fundamental shift in the 
mission and control of St. Andrews University in North 
Carolina. St. Andrews Presbyterian College has a long legacy of 
providing high quality education.
    But alumni who live in my district have expressed fear that 
its non-profit legacy is currently threatened by a for-profit 
college operator who has donated an enormous amount of money to 
the school and now is paid to be a consultant at St. Andrews. 
There appears to be a well-founded fear that the influence of 
this donor consultant has dramatically changed the quality of 
the education and the mission of St. Andrews.
    We need the Department to take steps to protect students 
and taxpayers when for-profit universities convert to non-
profits or exert control over non-profits by conversion or 
other means. So can you tell me what steps the Department can 
take to ensure that St. Andrews and other institutions continue 
to operate as bona fide non-profits?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much. For-profit colleges 
shouldn't be allowed to masquerade as non-profit institutions 
if they're not complying with Federal laws. I look forward to 
hearing more about this issue and having my team reach out to 
you to communicate with you what steps we're going to take in 
examining this issue and communicating whatever we find.
    Ms. Manning. Thanks so much. Mr. Secretary with my 
remaining time, I just want to note how pleased I am that the 
Department of Education is represented on the Biden-Harris 
COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
    Health inequities certainly predate the COVID-19 pandemic, 
and as the task force proceeds with its work, I hope you'll 
consider ways in which you can help address the issue of 
inequities through diversity and educational opportunities in 
medical schools, nursing programs and residency programs. I'd 
appreciate any update you may be able to provide on the work of 
the Task Force in this regard.
    Secretary Cardona. I can tell you that we need to work 
smarter together, and the Biden-Harris administration 
understands. I think we were selected because we recognize that 
we cannot work in silos, that we have to work together.
    This pandemic is giving us an opportunity to integrate our 
teams and work in an inter-agency fashion, because we serve the 
same people. So this Task Force is an example of that. I look 
forward to more information coming out because our students and 
families are waiting, and we must deliver. Thank you.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you.
    Ms. Manning. Thanks so much. We're lucky to have you and I 
yield back.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Ms. Manning. The gentlelady's time 
has expired. Another always very patient lady, the gentlelady 
from California, Mrs. Steel. You have five minutes please.
    Ms. Steel. Thank you very much Chairman Scott and Ranking 
Member Dr. Foxx for hosting this hearing, and thank you 
Secretary Cardona, joining us today and my God you are really 
patient. So thank you.
    Previously, your department ended an investigation into 
whether Yale University illegal discriminated against Asian 
American applicants. It is wrong for universities to continue 
the narrative that Asian American lack social skills and 
desirable personalities. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked 
President Biden to get his views on whether the justices should 
hear a challenge to Harvard University's consideration of race 
in undergraduate student admissions.
    So Secretary Cardona, all students should have equal 
opportunity to succeed their own merit and shutting the door to 
applicants based on race is wrong. Do you believe universities 
who hold Asian American applicants to an unfair standard than 
students of other races and use a quota to cap the number of 
admitted Asian American students?
    Secretary Cardona. I believe students should have an 
opportunity to apply and get into colleges based on their own 
merit.
    Ms. Steel. So you're just--so you are totally agree with me 
that you know what students has to just have a merit to get 
into the universities?
    Secretary Cardona. I don't believe colleges should be 
discriminatory against students, correct.
    Ms. Steel. Thank you. So do you think it is acceptable to 
give Federal funding to universities that apply personal 
ratings or grade personality traits to applicants? Should the 
Federal Government support processes that allows admission 
officers to objectively grade personality and character traits 
such as likeability, integrity, helpfulness, courage, and 
kindness?
    Secretary Cardona. So I understand--I'm not as familiar as 
you are with the details of that concern. But I do look forward 
to hearing more from you and having conversations about that, 
to examine the situation further with.
    Ms. Steel. OK. You know, what I'll do is I'm going to 
submit a couple of these articles that, you know what, I'm 
going to send to you that you know what they are doing in the 
universities.
    Secretary Cardona. I appreciate that, thank you.
    Ms. Steel. Thank you. The third question is I understand if 
a college would block an applicant who was a convicted felon. 
But what do I tell my Asian constituents in my community that 
American college and universities will grade them based on a 
likeability score? Does that sound fair to you?
    Secretary Cardona. I recognize the concerns you're 
expressing and again, I want to make sure I understand them 
fully. I appreciate you bringing them up, especially now when 
we've been as a country I think rallying against, you know, any 
discrimination toward Asian students.
    So I'm very interested in this issue. I share your concern, 
and I look forward to having more conversation with you about 
this.
    Ms. Steel. I really appreciate that. Thank you very much.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Ms. Steel. And thank you. I yield the balance to my time to 
actually Congressman Owens.
    Mr. Sablan. Hold on. Mrs. Steel, are you submitting 
something for the record or are you directly sending those 
materials to the Secretary?
    Ms. Steel. Mr. Chairman, I can do both. I can--
[inaudible]--to you and then I can directly to Secretary 
Cardona too.
    Mr. Sablan. All right. So without objection, Mrs. Steel's 
documents are submitted for the record. Thank you.
    Ms. Steel. Thank you.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Steel, I 
appreciate it. I'm just going to make a real quick statement. I 
hope I have time to ask a question. But Mr. Secretary, I grew 
up in Tallahassee, Florida, days in the 60's, days of KKK/Jim 
Crow and segregation. So I know what old school racism, Jim 
Crow racism looks like.
    Today in California, we saw a creation of a pathway to 
equitable math instruction. it's a CRT tool kit that promotes 
the concept of white supremacy, manifests itself through the 
focus on finding the right answers.
    An example of that is 2 + 2 = 4, asking for homework is 
racist. 2 + 2 = 4 by the way is racist. Asking for homework is 
racist. NFL just said recently that it was admitted to a policy 
called race norming, which they paid black athletes less for 
brain injuries than white athletes because the algorithms said 
that we were less intelligent.
    These are things, judging others on their skin color is 
racist, and to the question just asked a few minutes ago by Ms. 
Steel, whether it's discrimination of whites, blacks, or 
Asians, will you commit your office to aggressively investigate 
all forms of racial discrimination instructional practices 
under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act?
    Mr. Sablan. Well Mr. Secretary, the gentleman's time has 
expired. Could you make just a quick response please? We all 
need to go somewhere.
    Secretary Cardona. Yes. Well you know that question was a 
pretty extensive question that I don't want to shortchange. I'd 
be happy to submit written, written. But I can tell you right 
now, you know, as we say local control, we need to allow local 
control. But our Office of Civil Rights would take any claims 
very seriously.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Sablan. The gentleman's time has expired. Mr. Mrvan, 
you have five minutes sir.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under Title IX of the 
Education Amendments Act of 1972, schools have a responsibility 
to provide equal access to education for all students. The law 
specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, 
including sexual harassment and violence.
    As a part of Title IX's requirements, schools receiving 
Federal funding must take certain steps to address sexual 
misconduct that may inhibit students' safety or access to 
education. However, the U.S. Department of Education finalized 
a Title IX rule in 2020 which would create a system where 
survivors of sexual misconduct will be less likely to get 
justice by instituting a higher burden of proof for survivors 
and weaken accountability for schools that fail to prioritize 
student safety by creating a system where schools can more 
easily avoid addressing instances of sexual misconduct.
    Secretary Cardona, given the disastrous effects of this 
rule, which is--which was finalized under the previous 
administration, how are you in the current administration 
working to ensure better protections for the Title IX and 
survivors of sexual misconduct?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank very much. We're exploring a new 
rulemaking process and by doing that, what we've done is we've 
opened up the public hearing portion of it. I believe it was 
last week or the week before.
    We have thousands and thousands of folks who provided 
testimony and input on this. We want to make sure we're 
balanced, but we're protecting survivors in the process as 
well, and not creating an environment where they may feel a 
sense of additional harassment if they come forward.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you very much, and with that I yield back 
my time.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Mr. Sablan. Wow. Thank you, Mr. Mrvan. I appreciate it. I 
now recognize Mr. Comer, the gentleman from Kentucky popped up 
again. Sir, you have five minutes please.
    Mr. Comer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, I'm glad 
to see that all school districts in Kentucky now have the 
option of every day, in-person learning. However, it was a long 
time coming. One school district I represent in Kentucky was 
able to quickly adapt and were ready to offer in-person classes 
in the fall semester of 2020.
    They knew they were doing what was best for their students 
and had received assurance from the State that any reopening 
practices were a local decision. Then our Governor and then 
interim Commissioner, Education Commissioner, publicly shamed 
and made thinly veiled threats of punishment to the school 
district and their leadership, citing the strict CDC guidance.
    Mr. Secretary, you have previously stated that ``In-person 
learning offers young people the best opportunity.'' Do you 
still agree with that statement?
    Secretary Cardona. I do, yes.
    Mr. Comer. Mr. Secretary, I'm concerned the teachers' 
unions leadership was able to slow-walk the CDC guidance and 
ensure our schools remained closed, even when the transmission 
rates between students and faculty were very low. So Mr. 
Secretary, did you receive any indication that any political 
union influence, release, or content of any published Federal 
guidance on school reopening?
    Secretary Cardona. Can you repeat that? Did I receive any 
what?
    Mr. Comer. Did you receive any indication that any 
political union influenced the release or content of any 
published Federal guidance on school reopening?
    Secretary Cardona. No, no, and if I could comment a little 
bit further if you'd allow me that moment, I do believe 
students learn best in the classroom. I really do, and you know 
as a Commissioner of Education, when we had to close schools 
down, we had to weigh the risks of being out of school and the 
risks of being in school.
    But we followed the CDC guidance even when it was 
difficult. We accelerated their return based on good use of 
mitigation strategies. And I really feel that that was a 
difficult balance that leaders have had to face across the 
country. Not easy to do and thankfully now, 96 percent of our 
students K-8 have an opportunity to be in school, and we expect 
100 percent in the fall sir.
    Mr. Comer. Well that's great. So are you committed to 
protecting local school districts' freedoms to make decisions 
about in-person education?
    Secretary Cardona. I definitely do, but I also understand 
that in Connecticut, the Governor had the ability to make sure 
that the transmission spread was slowed down or stopped based 
on some of the actions that he had to make. I know throughout 
the country, when decisions are being made, they're being made 
in conjunction with the health department and they're usually 
for the best interest of the community.
    Mr. Comer. Well hopefully we can respect local 
decisionmaking in the future. Mr. Secretary, I have a question 
related to Critical Race Theory. I have a feeling you're going 
to get a lot of these--you probably already had a lot of these 
today. I've been presiding over the House Oversight Committee, 
so I'm just now jumping on.
    But since this issue has blown up over the last few months, 
conservatives have pointed out some of the extremism embedded 
in Critical Race Theory. I'm sure you don't agree with all of 
our arguments about that, but is there anything espoused under 
the umbrella of Critical Race Theory that you think goes too 
far, is too extreme, or that you don't fully subscribe to?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for the question and the 
manner in which you're asking it, to be honest with you. I'll 
reiterate what I said to colleagues before. My personal opinion 
on this is really secondary to my role as Secretary of 
Education around curriculum, which is very limited. We don't 
promote curriculum; we don't mandate it. Local control over 
curriculum and State control over curriculum is where that 
conversation needs to happen.
    With that said, I've been an educator my whole life. I do 
believe that students learn best when they are exposed to 
curriculum that show different cultures and how we can come 
together as one country under one flag. I believe that's 
possible, and I have confidence that the educators across the 
country know how to do it, can do it, and will do it if given 
the ability to do so. I believe it's become politicized, sir.
    Mr. Comer. Well, it's very politicized right now and it's 
an issue that's not going to go away. I hope that the 
administration will take a strong position, because in my 
office, we're getting lots of calls every day with parents 
concerned, concerned that for a lot of reasons.
    But my personal opinion is that we obviously have a divided 
nation. We need to focus on uniting people, not dividing 
people. I believe Critical Race Theory, I don't believe any 
part of it, any of the premises. But at the very least I am 
confident that it divides at a time when we need to unite. So 
hopefully that position will be taken by the Biden 
administration and my time is expired. Mr. Chairman, I yield 
back.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Comer. I now 
recognize the gentleman from New York, Mr. Bowman. Five minutes 
please.
    Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, 
it's good to see you again. Thank you again for coming to hang 
out with us in the boogey-down Bronx. Really appreciated it. So 
I have a question about our Title I schools. I'm very concerned 
about our Title I schools, because as you know they are 
located, often located in historically underserved communities.
    And as we come out of the pandemic and the trauma of the 
pandemic dealing with issues of learning loss, the social and 
emotional needs that our students are going to have when they 
come back, the psychological needs, you know. So often our 
schools, particularly our Title I schools, are asked to solve 
all of society's problems in the school building.
    As we know, the schools can't do it alone. With the 
American Rescue Plan, it provides an opportunity. It provides 
the resources and an opportunity not only for schools to be, 
you know, fully staffed to do things like lower class size and 
provide individualized instruction and hire counselors and 
social workers. But schools are still going to have to work 
with outside agencies and social services to meet the needs of 
kids and families.
    So you know, I've been thinking a lot about inter-agency 
collaboration and what that looks like as we come out of the 
pandemic and open safely. Can you speak to what that might look 
like from your perspective, and how the American Rescue Plan 
can support schools in doing more around inter-agency 
collaboration?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, Congressman Bowman. 
Absolutely right. We have to not only use the resources to put 
in strategies for students, but we have to do better as leaders 
to work collaboratively across agency lines, establish an 
inter-agency mentality where if I work with Marcia Fudge in 
Housing and I work with Xavier Becera in Health and education, 
how do we intersect?
    How do we think about community schools with the funds here 
that's so prominent in the plan to increase community schools? 
How do we make it so that we have schools that are meeting the 
needs of students, regardless of if their needs are, you know, 
hunger needs, health needs? You know it's hard to learn if your 
teeth hurt, right?
    So how do we take that mentality, remove the silos between 
agencies, model it at the Federal Government, make sure that 
we're using our money smarter and not duplicating things when 
we can work together, and then model that for states and 
communities so that we could see that in our schools?
    Mr. Bowman. No, I appreciate that answer, and I think it's 
important for my colleagues to understand. You know, what we're 
talking about in terms of inter-agency collaboration is related 
to students with special needs, it's related to learning 
challenges, it's related to students in foster care, and it's 
related to community violence.
    Meaning if we don't do things right in our schools and 
properly connect students and families with resources from 
other agencies, then what we're going to see is an exacerbation 
of students being evaluated for special ed, more violence in 
the community because they're frustrated because their needs 
aren't being met. I mean I think that's a big piece of it.
    How can the U.S. Department of Education, I know it's a 
Federal agency and there's a lot that happens locally that the 
U.S. Department of Education isn't a part of? But how can the 
Department of Education provide technical supports and some 
guardrails and some communication with states and local school 
districts to help them along the way, because this is an 
unprecedented challenging time for many school districts and 
states?
    Secretary Cardona. One thing that I found when the pandemic 
hit and where I was in Connecticut is that we had 170 districts 
working on the same problem, but there were very few 
opportunities for them to talk to one another. It's almost like 
you have across the country, people are trying to fix the same 
problem but not talking to one another.
    So we have a responsibility to lift best practices, to 
have--we have a best practices clearinghouse I'm reopening and 
on mental health. We just had an equity summit with Dr. 
Noguera, Baruti Kafele, and our Deputy Secretary and others, 
talking about how to rethink equity.
    And then we're engaging with folks, we're sending out 
guidance, we're meeting with districts, we're talking to their 
stakeholder leaders. We have to do more to share best 
practices. The innovation doesn't always come from D.C. As a 
matter of fact, I think our job is to bring out the innovation 
that's happening in the local and State, lift it up, and then 
also incentivize good strategies that we know that work.
    So that's our job and the innovation is out there, and we 
have to do a better job communicating it and lifting up best 
practice.
    Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Bowman. I'm being told that Mr. 
Fitzgerald is next, but I don't see him in the platform. So I'm 
going to recognize the very patient gentlelady from Louisiana. 
You have five minutes please.
    Ms. Letlow. Thank you so much and thank you Secretary 
Cardona for taking this time to testify before the Committee 
today. You know much of the 5th District of Louisiana is rural, 
which has its unique challenges, including access to broadband 
and recruiting and retaining teachers.
    When the pandemic shut down schools and learning had to be 
moved online, this created many new challenges. However, one of 
the biggest problems that emerged was many students, especially 
those in rural areas, didn't have access to Internet. No access 
to broadband impacts 350,000 Louisianians, including my own 
household.
    Unfortunately, for those students they had to learn by 
paper packets or driving to their local libraries, government 
buildings or even fast-food restaurants because they were only 
place in their area with a dependable Internet signal. Frankly, 
students without broadband access were being left behind.
    While I'm thankful our states? healthcare professionals and 
school administrators worked hard to reopen most of our schools 
last fall, there are still many schools across the country that 
are still teaching virtually. Many Republicans here in 
Washington and around the country have expressed great concerns 
with the administration's politicization of guidance related to 
school reopening.
    Your agency released guidance related to the use of 
elementary and secondary school emergency relief funding. It 
said, if school districts wish to use relief funding to support 
school reopening and sustained operations, funds 'may be used 
to develop strategies and implement public health protocols 
including to the greatest extent practicable, policies in line 
with guidance from the CDC for the reopening and operations of 
school facilities.''
    Secretary Cardona, could you please clarify here publicly 
for the record what that guidance specifically means? Do 
schools have to follow the CDC's guidance in order to use ESSER 
money to support the reopening and sustained operations of 
schools?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank for the question. You know for us, 
for me I've been very clear from Day 1. I want our schools 
opened as quickly as possible. That's where students learn 
best. That's where we know that they're going to get access to 
their peers, to their teachers, to the social emotional 
support, and in many cases to meals. For your children 
technology, right?
    So believe me, from Day 1 I wanted to make sure we get our 
students in as quickly and as safely as possible. Our guidance 
is that. It's guidance. It's not a mandate. But we recognize 
the importance of following CDC guidance.
    I was able to with colleagues across the State reopen 
schools by adhering to guidance and listening to the guidance 
that changed with time, but also pushing hard to make sure we 
think of every opportunity to get our students in the schools 
and the money did help that happen.
    So I hope that answers your question, but I also hope it 
reiterates what I've said from Day 1 as Secretary of Education. 
There's no substitute for in-person learning, and I do expect 
fully that in the fall, all students across the country will 
have that opportunity to learn in-person. Thank you for 
bringing up the rural issue.
    I had a conference call with students in rural schools, and 
you know we cannot ignore the importance or the challenge that 
they have had. I'm hoping that with the infrastructure plan and 
with the funds here, we can have the digital divide in our 
rear-view mirror as a country.
    Ms. Letlow. Thank you, Secretary. You know as a former 
higher education administrator; I saw college students 
borrowing more and more money because the Federal Government 
allowed them to. These students weren't equipped to fully 
understand the impact this debt would have on their lives in 
years to come.
    Schools, the Department and Congress should be doing more 
to educate our students on the financial effects of loans and 
be up front about the earning potential of certain careers. I 
have concerns with allowing students to accrue mountains of 
debt for degrees that have limited earning potential.
    At one point the Department was examining limiting the 
amount of money a student can borrow for federally backed 
loans, based on the student's specific degree program. What can 
the Department and Congress do to increase financial literacy 
among students on the long-term effects of student loans? How 
can we balance between adequately providing for students' needs 
and capping loan amounts to only cover the true costs of 
attendance?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that question, and 
Representative Letlow, I couldn't agree with you more. To me, 
it's a form of predatory schooling almost when you have someone 
80, 90 thousand dollars in debt, and then being employed in a 
career that you're not making a livable wage.
    We have to protect our students by making sure that we're 
providing options in not only financial literacy as you 
discussed, but also pathways to careers that exist now that 
could lead to higher income and allow students instead of being 
in mountains of debt, to think about buying a home or starting 
a family.
    So I'm with you 100 percent on that. I can assure you that 
this is an issue as a first-generation college student, you 
know, it's really important when I went to school to make sure 
that I was able to go into a profession where I can earn a 
salary, get a contract and do well and continue with life.
    We need to do more of that. We need to protect our 
students. Thank you.
    Ms. Letlow. Thank you so much Mr. Secretary. I yield back 
my time.
    Mr. Sablan. Yes, thank you Ms. Letlow. And now Wisconsin's 
own Congressman Pocan. Mr. Pocan, you have five minutes sir.
    Mr. Pocan. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman and thank you 
Mr. Secretary especially for your patience and passion for 
education. You probably thought you were in the middle of a 
QAnon cultural revival for a while today, but I guess the head 
of the Joint Chiefs had to go through that yesterday. It's a 
sign of the times. But you did it with amazing grace, and I 
thank you.
    I wanted to ask you a question specific to my State of 
Wisconsin. Your office helped me out a few weeks ago when the 
Wisconsin legislature had a proposal that would underfund K to 
12 education, and it jeopardized our state's receipt of 
billions of dollars in Federal COVID aid. The speed and clarity 
of your department's assessment of the Wisconsin budget ensured 
that our State legislature reversed course.
    I want to say thank you. Unfortunately, there's a new 
concern that we have with the Wisconsin legislature. Their 
newest budget proposal being advanced cuts property taxes 
levied by schools and technical colleges by 647 million and 
replaces that funding with the additional State dollars so that 
Wisconsin can technically meet the Federal maintenance of 
effort requirement for K to 12 education.
    My fear though is without additional information from the 
State legislature is that the budget gimmick being utilized 
violates Section 9901(c)(2) of the American Rescue Plan, which 
clearly states ``A State shall not use funds provided under 
this section to either directly or indirectly reduce any tax.''
    So the legislature has set next week to vote on the State 
budget. We have made your office aware of this, but I'm just 
wondering if you've had a chance to take a look at this and if 
you can get back to us if you haven't had an analysis yet, as 
quickly as possible so that we can try to, if there is a 
problem alert the legislature.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for bringing that to our 
attention, and more importantly thank you for advocating for 
students and the responsibility of the states to maintain the 
effort of providing funds for education. You know, our kids 
need more, not less. By close of business today, someone will 
be reaching out to your office.
    Mr. Pocan. Oh great. Thank you very much Mr. Secretary, and 
again last time I've never had a department respond so fast on 
any issue. I just want to say thank you. I was very, very 
impressed. You're doing a great job on that.
    Second, last week I was proud to announce along with 
Chairman Scott the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act, 
which would increase the maximum Pell grant for 2022-23 award 
year by almost 1,500. It would double the maximum Pell grant 
over the next 5 years. It would extend Pell eligibility to 
dreamers and would reinState the Pell grant lifetime 
eligibility to 18 semesters among a number of other things.
    I myself was a Pell grant recipient. I don't want to grab 
the ladder up with me. I want to leave the ladder in place and 
I'm really proud of the bill. We've got about 100 co-sponsors 
so far in the House. One, I was wondering if you support the 
goals of that legislation and if whatever we can't perhaps get 
into the budget this year, if we could work with you to try to 
make sure that it could appear in any future budget proposals 
that would come out of the administration.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you. I do support. You know, I was 
at a school in Michigan. I think I might have referenced Ruth 
before. She shared her story how the Pell is helping her; Pell 
grant is helping her access higher education later in life. She 
used a health issue that she experienced to motivate her to 
want to be a healthcare worker, and she's going to school now 
to do that, and Pell helped.
    You know in 1979 when it started, it paid for 77 percent of 
in-State college tuition. Now that number is 29 percent. So it 
hasn't kept up. So anything that we could do to get access to 
more people to go to college, I'm certainly in favor of it. I 
appreciate the efforts that you're doing there and know you 
have a partner in the Department of Education, to make sure 
college is accessible to more people.
    Mr. Pocan. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I look forward to 
working with you on that. One final question, last year we had 
written to former Secretary DeVos regarding an improper 2020 
charter school grant that was awarded to Charter Management 
Organizations.
    According to whistleblowers within the Department, they 
provided information to our office the 2020 awardee was 
initially ruled ineligible to receive an award by the 
Department staff but was ultimately awarded Federal funds at 
the direction of a political appointee, potentially in 
violation of Federal law.
    We never heard back from the Department of Education in the 
last administration, but I would hope that you might be able to 
take a look at that and get the requested communications and 
documents that we requested last year to my office. That would 
be very much appreciated.
    Secretary Cardona. I can't promise you by close of business 
today, but I--
    Mr. Pocan. Don't worry about it.
    Secretary Cardona. But I can assure you we're on it. We'll 
be reaching out.
    Mr. Pocan. You're setting an amazing bar. I appreciate it, 
Mr. Secretary and I will yield back Mr. Chairman because 
every--Mr. Chair, every Chairman loves that.
    Mr. Sablan. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Pocan, and yes, 
Secretary Cardona is certainly a breath of fresh air. You're 
amazing. Now the other gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. 
Fitzgerald. Sir, five minutes please.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Yes, very good. It's great to be with you 
Mr. Secretary. Thank you very much. Yes, it's unusual to be 
back-to-back with representatives from Wisconsin, but I would 
also really like to know kind of what your interpretation is of 
how some of the Federal dollars as they have flowed to the 
states, and I know in Wisconsin and Congressman Pocan's well 
aware of this, that the executive branch there has almost 
complete and full utilization of any of the Federal dollars 
that come through.
    So I think it's been frustrating for some of my colleagues 
in the legislature, not to have the type of oversight that 
we're used to through the Joint Finance Committee, of which 
Representative Pocan was an honored Member of for many, many 
years. So I'd be also curious to figure out kind of where we're 
at and is that going to have an effect on Wisconsin's State 
budget.
    If I could just jump to a couple of other things. The one 
is there's an issue and obviously you're aware of this, but 
student privacy continues to kind of emerge as an issue that 
I'm hearing about back in the district. And it's not even from 
the perspective of just individual student information or 
files, but kind of overreaching.
    And in Wisconsin in the Department of Public Construction, 
their access to some of this information, and then how that 
information is gathered. I'm just wondering what your thoughts 
are on that, because it seems--like I said, it seems to be 
emerging as a big issue, not just in my State but I think 
nationwide.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you for that. You know, I'll share 
with you and thank you for first of all for your ask about more 
information on the previous topic. Our team will reach out and 
share more as we have more information.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you.
    Secretary Cardona. But you know when the pandemic hit, one 
of the first things we did when we went over to remote was, you 
know, provide access to programs, right, online for students 
who are now at home. Previously, you know, we were trying to 
get laptops in the hands of kids as quickly as possible.
    There was a process where you would take those laptops and 
make sure that we put all the firewalls in, which we had to do, 
but also the privacy statements and all these contracts that we 
would have with third parties who are providing content now 
digitally, was something that took a little while, where now 
we're bringing thousands and thousands of computers in with 
programming.
    So the student privacy question came up, and how do we make 
sure that we're giving students access without compromising 
their safety or their privacy? We have to work very carefully 
on that, and it did take a lot of time and energy at the State 
level to make sure that we're protecting students, while also 
giving them access. So I appreciate that sentiment. It's a very 
nuanced concern, but one that we take seriously as a result, 
you know, because student privacy is at stake.
    So what I can do is offer availability of my team who's 
looking at that issue, to hear more concerns from you and 
provide more information more specific around the issue of 
student privacy.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Very good, very good. Thank you very much 
for that answer. Yes, it's just--it seems to over the last 
couple of years, it seems to have emerged as an issue that 
keeps popping up. So let me just shift real quickly.
    The other thing I just want to talk about is physical 
security in and around school buildings. In Wisconsin, we had a 
number of different incidents where law enforcement was 
involved. Sometimes it was a student that maybe shouldn't have 
been on campus or within the district, and security concerns 
continued to emerge.
    So what had happened was there were dollars available 
through a grant program for many of the schools in Wisconsin to 
kind of tap into, and once again enhance the physical security. 
So even if they had maybe a community officer on the grounds or 
if there were specific instances, but it was wildly successful.
    I would just urge you. It's something that I think, because 
oftentimes unfortunately if there's a major incident like a 
school shooting that the immediate reaction is not necessarily 
to take a look at the physical limitations of some of these 
schools. Some of these schools that have been around for 50, 
60, 70, 80 years that need to be improved and need to be 
enhanced.
    It was something. I don't know that it's something that--
you know, I understand you're just kind of getting your feet 
wet. You're just jumping in on this. But I would urge you to 
kind of take a look at that, because I think it's going to 
become again something very important, and I think many school 
boards throughout this Nation are going to start to take a hard 
look at those types of improvements instead of just building 
new facilities, which I understand is also happening.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, sir. As a principal during 9/
11 and the Sandy Hook massacre, I understand physical plant 
safety and the importance of making sure that the environment 
is safe for students and educators. Thank you for sharing that 
information, I look forward to hearing more and communicating 
more with your team as well.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you very much. It was good to be with 
you today and look forward to working with your team. Thank 
you.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald. I'm sometimes 
accused of being a secretary, a former secretary of HUD. I now 
call on Mr. Castro of Texas. Five minutes sir.
    Mr. Castro. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you Mr. 
Secretary for being with us today and for your testimony. I 
have a few questions. By 2029, it's expected that Hispanic 
enrollment in public schools will comprise 27 percent of total 
enrollment. However, many Hispanic students start school 
without the same economic and social resources as other peers.
    As the Hispanic population continues to grow, we have to 
give Hispanic students the opportunity for higher education to 
prepare for the workforce. So what's the Department doing to 
help schools prepare Hispanic students for college, and what is 
the Department doing to ensure that funding for adult education 
and literacy programs are part of the immigration discussion, 
especially to ensure immigrant parents can participate in their 
children's education?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much for that Joaquin, 
and I agree Representative Castro. I agree wholeheartedly. It's 
a very complex. I mean I can tell you there's 600 million in 
the budget for higher ed for MSIs, HBCUs, in making sure that 
our students that are going to Hispanic-serving institutions 
get the support.
    But I'm going to start earlier. We need to have a good 
quality foundation. The American Family Plan talks about a pre-
K program for our students. For Latino students and many 
students who are learning English, who have a native language 
of Spanish, I want to make sure we recognize that as an asset. 
We want students to be bilingual and bicultural, right?
    It's an added bonus. But we have to make sure that our 
programs in the K-12 world follow the research and right now in 
many places they don't. We have a subtractive model. So quality 
second language development programs that honor and keep their 
native language, so that we have students that are coming out 
of our schools multilingual, ensuring that they have good 
pathways into the 2-year, 4-year colleges and careers that lead 
to, you know, successful employment. But also in adult 
education, there's 713 million in the budget, to make sure that 
we support all of our learners who are coming back to adult 
education, that want to learn English so that they can continue 
with their workforce pursuits.
    Mr. Castro. Sure, and then I want to followup with this 
point when we talk about schools, and I know that there's been 
a bit of a debate raging about Critical Race Theory and what's 
taught at our schools and so forth. I was in another hearing, 
otherwise I probably would have heard some of that critique 
earlier perhaps from some of the other Members of the 
Committee.
    I know that the Federal Government doesn't control 
curriculum. The states and the individual school districts and 
school boards do that. But I want to ask you a question in a 
second about what resources you can lend to school districts 
and teachers, to teach diverse populations and the 
contributions of those diverse populations in American history?
    And I want to give you a little bit of context to this. I 
was Chair of the congressional Hispanic Caucus last term, and 
we had a working meeting with a group that included some CEOs 
of textbook publishing companies. I asked one of these CEOs of 
one of these big companies whether he could name three Latinos 
or Latinas who had made a significant contribution or had a 
significant impact in American history.
    He thought about it for a few seconds, and he finally said, 
you know, no I can't. He wasn't trying to be dismissive or rude 
about my question. This very educated, ambitious man who was 
head of a huge company that produces textbooks for schools 
could not name three people that are part of a population 
that's almost 20 percent of the country now, who had had an 
important impact on American history.
    And so I speak for generations of Latinos, and I think 
others in this country who grew up essentially being ripped out 
of American history and State histories also. And so you've 
got, you've still got a lot of young people who are growing up 
without learning that there was anybody valuable from their 
community who contributed to the success and the development of 
the United States of America.
    I think that we've got to be mindful of that, and I hope 
that the Federal Government, the U.S. Department of Education, 
can help supplement the efforts of school districts and states 
in achieving the teaching of the importance of different 
peoples to the success of this country.
    Secretary Cardona. Absolutely, thank you sir. I love the 
way you articulated it. You made the point very clear that when 
our students don't see themselves in their texts, they can't 
achieve or they find it more difficult to achieve different 
positions or different roles, because they don't see people 
that look like them there.
    Everyone benefits seeing how our beautiful country was 
shaped, and with input from different people. That's what makes 
this country so special. I think it's become politicized as you 
know. It's become politicized and in fact I've heard more about 
Critical Race Theory during this hearing than what we're doing 
for the people of our country, our students, who are not going 
to have an opportunity to go to community college, addressing 
some of the issues with higher education of pre-K. I heard more 
about that because that's what's going to get the headline.
    We know we don't have a role there. But we do acknowledge 
good education. I've been an educator my whole life. Where 
students see themselves, they're more likely to engage. They're 
more likely to learn about other cultures, and that's what 
brings us together as Americans.
    Mr. Castro. Thank you for your service. I yield back.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Castro. The gentleman's time has 
expired. Hopefully and probably the last Member today as we 
move from Texas to New York. The gentleman, Mr. Espaillat. Five 
minutes.
    Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman. Before I begin, I would like to highlight local 
support for the American Rescue Plan from the Superintendent of 
Schools in the Archdiocese of New York, Michael Deagan, and I 
quote him. ``It would allow us to provide remediation to 
children who have experienced learning gaps because of remote 
learning, as well as enrichment programs above and beyond the 
academic learning that we'll be providing to the children.''
    Mr. Chairman, I would ask that the full article or quote be 
entered into the record.
    Mr. Sablan. Without objection, so ordered.
    Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Secretary for being 
with us today. First, let me begin by supporting the 
Secretary's recommendations to increase by $200 million the 
TRIO Programs. They're very important to my district and the 
entire country. I think it's a wise investment for our future 
college students.
    Regarding English language learners, I know that English 
language learners because I have significant numbers of them in 
one school district, District 6. There's over 6,000 of them 
making up over 30 percent of student population in that 
district. They've really suffered during the pandemic with 
remote learning, perhaps more than any other average student.
    And as such, I think that they now need additional help. In 
addition to that, I think that very often they're in classrooms 
where they may not even have a certified bilingual teacher 
before them. And I think it is a critical challenge to get 
those teachers before them, perhaps by providing additional 
benefits or extra pay.
    I think being a certified bilingual teacher is just 
equivalent to having a master's program in math for example, or 
science. So it's important that these young children, some of 
which were born in other countries and others who are first 
generation
    Americans but they still speak their native language at 
home, be provided that opportunity.
    In addition to that Mr. Secretary, I think that also 
they're held to a very difficult standard. They often have to 
take these very difficult English language arts exam a year 
before they got here, a year after they got here, and the 
science and the data shows that it takes about six to 7 years 
to really master a language.
    I know that very well because I was one of those students, 
and I didn't get a bilingual education and I was there sitting 
in the back of the classroom for 2 years, not knowing what was 
being said. When I finally graduated and went to college, I 
took a look at some of my college freshman papers that my 
mother had saved away and I read them, and I was still 
struggling. I wasn't altogether there. I wasn't able to speak 
my Shakespearean English as I do now perhaps Mr. Chairman.
    So these students really need help, and I'm wondering Mr. 
Secretary what you have planned for them? Are you going to keep 
this process where they have to take these very rigid English 
language arts exams a year after they got here, when even U.S. 
born students, non-ELLs, are having a difficult time with them? 
And what would you do to improve the ratio of certified 
bilingual teachers in the classroom?
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you very much Congressman for 
bringing up those really important issues. As you mentioned, 
it's a growing population. It's a growing population and we 
have to make sure that when we're talking about multilingual 
learners, it's not a separate bucket of work.
    All teachers are EL teachers, and we have to make sure that 
our schools are prepared to meet the needs of our multilingual 
learners in a way that acknowledges and accepts and encourages 
being multilingual, right? In many other countries, we have 
students that speak two or three languages.
    We want to encourage our students to keep their native 
language and learn English. And you brought up several good 
points. Y know language development, you're absolutely right. 
It was renowned Professor Jim Cummins who identified that 
cognitive academic language proficiency happens between 7 and 
11 years.
    That's that cognitive language that our students use when 
writing or when analyzing in a second language. So we need to 
make sure we're following the research on how second languages 
develop. We need to make sure we have adequate training, and 
you brought up something that I'm really proud of. There's over 
a billion dollars in the American Family Plan aimed at 
recruiting and keeping teachers in those hard to recruit areas 
like bilingual education, special education.
    We need to make sure we have a qualified and trained 
workforce in those areas, so that they're giving the students 
the needs, the skills that they need. As a former principal of 
a school with a bilingual program, I was dismayed to have to 
have long term substitutes in the classes that needed it the 
most.
    So that to me is a really big step in the right direction. 
We also know that, you know, in terms of assessments, you know, 
while local and State rules around assessments drive it, we 
have to make sure that we're doing sensible assessments and not 
over-assessing students or attributing lack of content 
knowledge to a student who's just learning the language. That 
was an issue that I experienced as well. So I'm with you on 
that. I look forward to working with you more on it.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you.
    Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Espaillat, and thank you 
Secretary Cardona. My goodness, I think it's almost about 3 
hours, right, 4 hours. I think we're done. We're through the 
Member questions now, and so now pursuant to Committee 
practice, materials for submission for the hearing record must 
be submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days following 
the last day of the hearing, or by close of business on July 
8th, preferably in Microsoft Word format.
    Only a Member of the Committee or by the Office of the 
Secretary may submit materials for inclusion in the hearing 
record, and the materials must address the subject matter of 
this hearing. Please submit materials to the Clerk 
electronically by mailing submissions to 
[email protected].
    Again, I want to thank the Secretary for his participation 
today, and of course for his engaging with the Members and 
their questions. Members of the Committee may have some 
additional questions for you Mr. Secretary, and we ask that you 
please respond to those questions in writing.
    The hearing record will be kept open for 14 days in order 
to receive those responses. I remind my colleagues that 
pursuant to Committee practice, witness questions for the 
hearing record must be submitted to the Majority Committee 
Staff or Committee Clerk within 7 days. The questions submitted 
must address the subject matter of the hearing.
    I now would like to recognize the distinguished Ranking 
Member for a closing statement, Mr. Owens.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, for yielding. 
Mr. Secretary, thank you again for joining us. It's been a 
long--
    Mr. Sablan. Would you turn on your camera please? Thank 
you.
    Mr. Owens. Sorry. Sorry about that, sorry about that. OK 
Mr. Secretary, again thank you for joining us. I know it's been 
a long day for you, and I appreciate your patience. You have a 
very, very impressive background and I again love your love for 
your industry and wish you all the best and success in your 
role.
    I want to add to Representative Castro's comments. Teaching 
our great history what we've done together is the magic and 
really what brings us all together as a Nation. So I hope that 
not only for the Hispanic, but the Asians, black history 
together, and those that came before us is just a great, great 
part of making sure we're proud of who we are. You've said many 
things today, Members on our side of the aisle will agree with. 
As Ranking Member Foxx said earlier, we especially appreciate 
the support you expressed for career and technical education.
    As you know, there are some things many Republican Members 
feel passionate about, and we're eager to work with you on 
that. Arguably, the most important challenge our Nation faces 
is ensuring that every student has a pathway to a good job and 
meaningful career.
    Of course, there are other things you said that I won't, 
will not, I do not agree with. You said several times that 
education is underfunded and that has been normalized. Mr. 
Secretary, I appreciate that everyone wants more. But it's 
important to ground those debates in facts. The Institution of 
Education Science just put out a report last month comparing 
education spending in the United States to other developed 
countries.
    Based on 2017 data, the United States spent 14 hundred 11--
$1,400 per student in elementary and secondary education. That 
placed us fourth among 37 Members, Member nations in the 
Organization of Economic Corporation and Development and was 37 
percent higher than the OECD average. At a post-graduate level, 
we spent 3,500 per student, which is second among the OECD 
countries and more than double that average.
    As a country we spend a lot of money in education. The 
problem isn't how much; the problem is how. Your predecessor 
has been criticized a few times during this meeting, but former 
Secretary DeVos put students and families at the center of 
every decision she made. I hope that the Department under your 
leadership does not revert to putting the system above 
students.
    At the K through 12 level, that would mean continue to 
Secretary DeVos' efforts to expand educational freedom, so that 
every family has the same level of choice you and I have. At 
the post-secondary level, it means not simply putting, pumping 
more money into a system awash in cash, that will only allow 
schools to continue rising costs and the price so many low-
income families are out, put out of the American dream.
    It means resisting calls to subsidize the student loan 
costs of higher income individuals on the backs of lower income 
taxpayers.
    I also want to revisit a couple of issues that received a 
lot of attention throughout the hearing. First there's been a 
lot of conversation about Critical Race Theory. Mr. Secretary, 
I want to full truth about this country's history taught to our 
students. I want all the students to see themselves in history. 
That's critically important. You and I agree on that.
    But how that is accomplished couldn't be more important. 
You're supposed to use the Department of Education funds to 
endorse the teaching of radical, far left ideologies that 
defines people exclusively based on the color of their skin. I 
urge you to reject that approach and pursue the policies that 
bring people together, rather than create more division.
    I also want to talk about higher education accountability. 
Members on the other side of the aisle are concerned that you 
will advance policies that unfairly target one sector of higher 
education while ignoring the shortcomings of the other sector. 
Mr. Secretary, the national college graduation rate is around 
60 percent. That isn't going to be fixed by obsessing over one 
type of education or one type of institution. I urge you to 
pursue policies that will hold all institutions accountable 
equally.
    I also want to reiterate a point that Ranking Member Foxx 
made earlier regarding the public service loan forgiveness. 
Your agency's own data shows the main reason for the 
forgiveness rate on the program is borrowers not yet reaching 
their 120 qualifying payments. It is not because of previous 
administration's negligence or mismanagement, and not being 
straightforward about this does not, does a disservice to our 
students.
    On behalf of Ranking Member Foxx, I also want to submit to 
the record a letter from Keiser University that sets straight 
some of the comments made by my Democratic colleagues about the 
institution.
    Finally, Mr. Secretary, I urge you to take the threat of 
the foreign influence on our post-secondary schools seriously. 
You have an obligation to enforce the laws that protect 
students, institutions, and our Nation's security. Once again, 
I want to thank you for your efforts for your love for the 
institution, and look forward to working with you, and I yield 
back.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Owens for your closing 
statements. I now recognize myself for the purpose of making my 
closing statement. Secretary Cardona, thank you again sir for 
joining us to discuss the Department's budget request and your 
priorities to support students, educators, and communities.
    Today we reflected on our work under the Biden-Harris 
administration to expand access to quality education and to 
help students in schools to recover from this pandemic. Because 
of the American Rescue Plan, institutions of higher education 
have the funding they need to stay afloat, and schools have the 
necessary resources and guidance to safely reopen and make up 
for lost time in the classroom.
    Yet today's hearings reaffirmed that it is not enough to 
return our educational system to the pre-pandemic status quo. 
To that end, I am pleased that through the Department's budget 
request the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, 
the administration is committed to building back a better 
education system where everyone can succeed.
    I would like to briefly review some of those key takeaways. 
I will--We will insert those takeaways in the record.
    Mr. Sablan. Again, Secretary Cardona, thank you very much 
for your time today and your patience and thank you for 
engaging with the Members on the questions and actually 
providing us as best a response as you can at the time. But we 
look forward to working with you sir, to ensure all students 
have quality access to the quality education that they need to 
reach their full potential.
    And if there's no further business, this meeting is 
adjourned. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and have a good day.
    Secretary Cardona. Thank you, sir.
    [Additional submission by Chairman Scott follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho 
Sablan, a Delegate in Congress from the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Frederica S. Wilson, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of Florida follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of Oregon follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Adriano Espillat, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of New York follows:]
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    [Prepared Statement from Hon. Raul M. Grijalva, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona follows:]
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    [Additional submissions by Hon. Andy Levin, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan follow:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Joseph D. Morelle, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of New York follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Donald Norcross, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey 
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    [Additional submission by Ranking Member Foxx and Hon. 
Burgess Owens, a Representative in Congress from the State of 
Utah follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Rick Allen, a Representative 
in Congress from the State of Georgia follows:]
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    [Additional submission by Hon. Michelle Steel, a 
Representative in Congress from the State of California 
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    [Questions submitted for the record follow:]
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    [Responses by Secretary Cardona follow:] 
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    [Whereupon, the Committee adjourned at 3:03 p.m.]

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