Education (EDU)

SUPPORTING HIGHER EDUCATION IN PRISONS

WHEREAS, prisons are often dehumanizing spaces for incarcerated citizens, instead of being a place to rehabilitate incarcerated citizens to successfully rejoin society;

WHEREAS, a very small proportion of incarcerated citizens have access to quality higher education in prison programs;

WHEREAS, continued education positively impacts a person’s dignity, self-worth, well-being, citizenship, and social bonds;

WHEREAS, education is a core component of effective rehabilitation and re-entry into our communities for incarcerated citizens;

WHEREAS, recent federal legislation has reinstated Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated people;

WHEREAS, only 35% of state prisons and 4% of higher education institutions provide access to higher education courses;

WHEREAS, students who participate in higher education programs while incarcerated are 43% less likely to recidivate and 13% more likely to gain employment, which in turn lowers long-term costs for the states that implement such programs; and

WHEREAS, the 2020 FAFSA Simplification Act legalized the Second Chance Pell program for incarcerated students enrolled in eligible HEP programs, starting in July 2023.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) urges the legislative bodies of all states to implement a Commission on Higher Education in Prison in an effort to provide and implement recommendations which expand higher education in prison programming;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to draft and adopt clear, consistent policies regarding higher education in prison, allowing incarcerated citizens to easily access higher education programming;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to implement effective and meaningful data collection policies for higher education in prison programs, including data on student enrollment, completion rates, and program spending;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL urges Congress to fully fund and increase the authorization for the Second Chance Act Grants as they help support the successful reentry of incarcerated citizens to our society, and have been shown to save more money than they cost;

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• Resolution ID: EDU-24-08
• Sponsored by: Rep. Carol Ammons (IL)
• Policy Committee: Education (EDU)

SUPPORTING HUNGER-FREE COLLEGE CAMPUSES

WHEREAS, approximately one in three college students experience excess hunger, impacting their ability to perform well academically;

WHEREAS, nearly 75% Indigenous, Black, and American Indian / Alaska Native students experience food insecurity;

WHEREAS, financial and job insecurity, mounting student debt, and excess responsibilities create barriers to healthy and nutritious food on and around college campuses;

WHEREAS, first-time students are particularly susceptible to food-insecurity, experiencing for the first time increased bodily autonomy and responsibility;

WHEREAS, over two million meals have been distributed through “hunger-free campus” programs;

WHEREAS, ten states have already passed legislation to create “hunger-free campuses” and ten more states have introduced similar policies;

WHEREAS, more than 620 campuses in all fifty states have partnered together to create “hunger-free campuses”; and

WHEREAS, more than $112 million has already been provided to local communities through “hunger-free campus” legislation and grants in states across the nation.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBSCL) urges the legislative bodies of all states to designate “hunger-free campuses” throughout their jurisdictions, providing funding for grants directly available to universities designated as “hunger-free”;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to work to address food-insecurity among college students through sustainable solutions, increased marketing of current resources, and building partnerships;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to support institution-specific task forces to understand and effectively work against food-insecurity on college campuses; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• Resolution ID: EDU-24-09
• Sponsored by: Rep. Carol Ammons (IL)
• Policy Committee: Education (EDU)

EVERY SCHOOL CAN BECOME A SAFE, SUPPORTIVE, AND HEALING-CENTERED ENVIRONMENT

WHEREAS, approximately 60% of US Citizens have exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at some point in their lives;

WHEREAS, multiracial individuals experience significantly higher rates of exposure to ACEs than all other races;

WHEREAS, ACEs lead to increased disparities in mental, physical, emotional, economic, and social health and wellbeing;

WHEREAS, more than 70% of children access and receive mental and basic health services at school;

WHEREAS, trauma-informed responses to ACEs provide students a chance to engage fully in their education, build trust in their teachers, and share necessary vulnerable information to improve long-term social and health outcomes;

WHEREAS, few educators are trained in trauma-resilience and trauma-informed understandings of support, and most school districts lack resources and sufficient staff numbers to incorporate trauma-informed techniques; and

WHEREAS, investing in a trained, trauma-responsive educational furthers community work to dismantle structural racism within educational systems, especially from early childhood to young adulthood.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBSCL) urges the legislative bodies of all states to draft, adopt, and support trauma-responsive policies with clear definitions of trauma and trauma-responsive schools and districts;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to ensure reliable data-keeping metrics to evaluate school and district resources, such as counselors and social workers, in support of trauma-responsive operations;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to create an “Adversity Index” to better understand the lived experiences of students, specifically to investigate various exposures to trauma and their impacts on a student’s education and wellbeing;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBSCL urges the legislative bodies of all states to create programs to prepare, train, and provide continual professional development opportunities for both new and current educators and education-support staff to support trauma-resilience in schools and districts nationwide; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• Resolution ID: EDU-24-10
• Sponsored by: Rep. Carol Ammons (IL)
• Policy Committee: Education (EDU)

CLOSING THE FUNDING GAP BETWEEN LAND-GRANT INSTITUTIONS

WHEREAS, on September 18, 2023, the United States Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, sent letters to sixteen governors, including Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee, detailing the over $12 billion-dollar disparity in funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their non-HBCU land grant peers in their states;

WHEREAS, under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, states choosing to open a second land-grant university to serve Black students were required to provide an equitable distribution of state funds between their 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions;

WHEREAS, unequitable appropriated funding of the 1890 institutions in the states ranges from $172 million to $2.1 billion, causing severe financial gaps, and these funds could have supported vital and much-needed infrastructure and student services and would have better positioned the recipient universities to compete for grants to increase educational opportunity for students;

WHEREAS, the Alabama A&M University, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, the Fort Valley State University, the Kentucky State University, the Southern University and A&M College, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the Alcorn State University, the Lincoln University, the Langston University, the South Carolina State University, the Tennessee State University, the Prairie View A&M University, the Virginia State University, the West Virginia State University, and the North Carolina A&T State University are all affected;

WHEREAS, for example institutions such as the Tennessee State University and Lincoln University, the 1890 land-grant institution in Tennessee and Missouri, has not been able to advance in ways that are on par with the University of Missouri and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the original Morrill Act of 1862 land-grant institution in Missouri and Tennessee, due in large part to unbalanced funding;

WHEREAS, the longstanding and ongoing underinvestment in Land-Grant HBCU Institutions disadvantages the students, faculty, and community that the institution serves;

WHEREAS, utilizing data from the National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Survey from 1987 to 2020, the State of Tennessee has underfunded Tennessee State University by $2,147,784,704 over the past thirty years alone;

WHEREAS, using the same data, Lincoln University has been underfunded by $361 million;

WHEREAS, these funds could have supported infrastructure and student services at HBCUs and would have better positioned the university to compete for research grants; and

WHEREAS, it is vital to all HBCUs and our economic future that we are committed to ensuring that opportunity is equally distributed to our land-grant universities.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) strongly urges all states to equitably distribute funding to land grant institutions and end this funding gap entirely in  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• Resolution ID: EDU-24-15
• Sponsored by: Rep. Larry Miller (TN)
• Policy Committee: Education (EDU)

REMOTE TESTING FOR STUDENTS IN ONLINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators is committed to ensuring all public schools’ students are treated fairly and equally regardless of the public school they attend;

WHEREAS, tens of thousands of public-school students are enrolled in full-time online public schools in states across the U.S., including high and growing populations of students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, at-risk students, and students who live in rural areas;

WHEREAS, African American students comprise more than 15% of the overall population of students enrolled in full-time online schools, with several statewide online public schools serving even higher percentages of African American students;

WHEREAS, since the pandemic, more families are choosing home based learning models, including full-time online public schools, micro schools and homeschools for their children;

WHEREAS, the most dramatic increase was seen with black families, with the number of homeschooled Black children rising from 3% to 16% in 2020.

WHEREAS, online public school students receive a comprehensive public education outside traditional school buildings, typically from their homes, with instruction, direction, and supervision from state-certified public school teachers;

WHEREAS, public school students attending online schools must meet many of the same requirements as students attending traditional, brick-and-mortar public schools, including participating in state standardized tests;

WHEREAS, the federal Every Students Succeeds Act, requires all states to administer state standardized tests in mathematics and English language arts annually in grades three through eight, and where state laws require additional standardized tests for public school students in grades K-12;

WHEREAS, most states require students to take standardized tests in proctored, in-person settings, which, for the vast majority of students are administered in traditional school buildings during regular school hours;

WHEREAS, because of these state testing regulations, online public schools are therefore required to set up multiple in-person testing locations across the state to accommodate all students, regardless of where they live in the state;

WHEREAS, unlike traditional students who take state tests in their classrooms during a regular school day, online public school students (and parents or guardians) face significant hardships with having to take time off from work and lose income in order to travel to testing locations, often far from where they live, and over multiple days and nights, especially for those in rural and remote areas in order to comply with in-person state testing;

WHEREAS, online public school students must take state assessments in unfamiliar locations away from where they typically learn, which, research indicates, negatively impacts performance and lower participation rates;

WHEREAS, at-risk students, low-income students, and students with disabilities attending online public schools face even more challenges and inequitable hardships with in-person state testing mandates, including out-of-pocket travel costs, accessibility challenges for students with disabilities, and other accommodations for students with special needs;

WHEREAS, statewide online public schools face high costs and logistical challenges to secure and pay for testing facilities, and must use resources that could be used for student support and services, in order to comply state and federal testing regulations;

WHEREAS, online public school teachers are diverted away from teaching to serve as proctors at testing facilities across the state to comply with in-person state testing requirements;

WHEREAS, student instruction is interrupted over multiple days and weeks which adversely impacts student learning;

WHEREAS, standardized assessments, including state tests, can be safely and successfully administered to students remotely using modern software and technology that is secure, safe, and effective, and ensures test integrity;

WHEREAS, some states operated under waivers to administer state testing remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic and proved that the remote testing could be administered with fidelity and using best practices;

WHEREAS, many other high stakes standardized tests, including Law School Admission Tests (LSAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), are administered to students remotely using safe and secure technology;

WHEREAS, research indicates that allowing for remote testing for public school students who learn from home results in greater participation, which provides more reliable and accurate performance data;

WHEREAS, public school students in online public schools should not continue to face inequitable and undue hardships in order to comply with federal and state testing mandates; and

WHEREAS, remote state testing is a proven solution to addressing the inequities and unnecessary burdens that online public school students and teachers face.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators encourages state governments to enact policies to permit full-time online public school students, and other students receiving a public education outside of a traditional school building, to be given the option to take K-12 state tests remotely using technology that ensures safe, secure, and accurate test administration in line with current best practices; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• Resolution ID: EDU-24-31
• Sponsored by: Rep. Laura V. Hall (AL)
• Policy Committee: Education (EDU)