Thanks to our friends at Education Counsel for sharing a summary document of the education elements of President Biden’s 2022 State of the Union Address.

  

As part of their ongoing, collective work to support K-12 system leaders’ pandemic recovery efforts and their effective use of ARP and other available funds, Chiefs for Change released the System-Level Student Wellbeing Data Review Tool, produced in partnership with leading experts in psychology, public health, and education and alongside Chiefs for Change member systems. This tool leverages data to enable system leaders at the state level to formulate an evidence-based strategy to support overall student wellbeing by deepening inter-agency partnerships, assessing student needs, and identifying gaps in services. The tool is the latest in a series of resources that Chiefs for Change is producing this year to assist system leaders in addressing students’ mental health and wellness needs during and after the pandemic. It complements the District Student Wellbeing Services Reflection Tool released in January and will be followed by another resource outlining promising practices. Also released today, the source document,  Investment in Action: Telling the Story of How Federal Pandemic Recovery Funds Are Supporting Students, offers guidance on communicating about the programs funded by ARP and other Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) dollars, how systems can engage their communities, and how leaders are working to ensure transparency and accountability.  

  

Today, the Biden administration released a new National COVID Preparedness Plan to keep America moving forward safely and back to normal routines. The plan focuses on three key goals: protection against COVID-19, preparing for new variants, and preventing economic and educational shutdowns. Read more on the blog.

  

Last week, the CDC revised its guidance on masking for schools and community spread. They also clarified their position on mask mandates for school buses. Read the school-centered recap on the blog. 

  

If you tuned into the State of the Union on Tuesday night, you probably heard the President speak about the “Innovation Act.” He was referring to the Senate’s bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) which was approved last June. On February 2, the House passed The America COMPETES Act, which is their response to USICA. The House and Senate will now begin to reconcile the two different bills with the goal to move a final legislative package soon. Most notably for K-12 education, both proposals include two grant programs. Read about it on the blog. 

Mile Markers is a bimonthly newsletter about the role of colleges in rural America, including profiles of people and places worth getting to know a little better. It is written by Open Campus national reporter Nick Fouriezos, a Georgia native who has written from all 50 states and six continents. You can subscribe here. 

Typically the format is a dispatch from somewhere across the country, a quick news roundup, a more technical dive into data or ideas, and then a final section linking to people doing meaningful work in rural higher ed — grants, jobs, studies, etc. It's important to me for this to be a community space for discussion, so you and your readers shouldn't hesitate to send me links or ideas as you come by them!