Committee on Education and Workforce

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) sent a letter to the Department of Education seeking an investigation into reports that a Florida public school district transmitted student records to the local sheriff’s office so that the sheriff’s office could develop a list of students “destined for a life of crime.” In the letter, Chairman Scott notes that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) explicitly prohibits schools from disclosing student records to third parties without parental permission.

WASHINGTON, DC – Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the incoming Biden administration released its proposal for a COVID-19 relief package, the American Rescue Plan. “President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 rescue package is a clear sign that the incoming administration understands the urgent need to crush the virus, safely reopen schools, and provide immediate relief to workers and the American people. In response to the loss of lives and livelihoods to COVID-19, this proposal provides the resources our communities need to accelerate the distribution of vaccines and expand capacity for testing and tracing, which are the most urgent steps we must take to end the pandemic.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), and House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) expressed serious concerns about the Trump Administration’s last-minute attempt to repeal anti-discrimination protections. Specifically, the Office of Management and Budget is pushing a secretive proposal through the rulemaking process without public input, as required by law.

WASHINGTON, DC – Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy lost 140,000 jobs in December with the unemployment rate at 6.7 percent. “Lost in the news of the violent mob incited by the president was the single deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic and 42 consecutive weeks of record-high unemployment claims. Due to the disastrous leadership of this administration, Americans are struggling to find work, to put food on their table, and to keep themselves and their families safe from the virus. Today’s jobs report is just another example of this administration’s failure, and we will not be able to begin healing until this president is removed.

WASHINGTON, DC – Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after President-elect Biden nominated Marty Walsh to lead the Department of Labor (DOL). “I congratulate Marty Walsh on his nomination to be the next Secretary of Labor. With Mr. Walsh’s experience in the Laborers’ Union, Massachusetts’ House of Representatives, and most recently as the mayor of Boston, I am confident that he will restore the mission of the Department to ensure that Americans can obtain meaningful employment, fair pay, a safe workplace, and a dignified retirement.

WASHINGTON, DC – House and Senate Democratic health care leaders called on the Trump administration to rescind policies in a proposed rule that would allow states to end the use of Healthcare.gov and state exchanges to enroll consumers in coverage. House Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray, (D-WA), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) sent the letter as families continue to face significant health care and financial challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Committee on Education and Labor, and Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Subcommittee on Appropriations, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) released the following statement after the House voted to repeal Section 426 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA). The provision was first included in the Fiscal Year 2021 House Labor-HHS Bill and maintained in the final Omnibus Package. This action follows the elimination of two harmful and similar legacy riders in the Fiscal Year 2019 Labor-HHS Bill. “Segregated schools mean segregated opportunities. More than 66 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, we have yet to fulfill the promise of equity in education.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, led by Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Committee Democrats wrote in opposition to a Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposal to roll back nutrition standards that have significantly improved the nutritional quality of school meals. The proposal resurrects and expands a 2018 rule that was ultimately vacated by a district court. The Members note that under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, it is the responsibility of the Department to ensure that the food children are served in school is nutritious and in close alignment with the evidence-based Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). However, the proposed rule fails to align with the DGAs by drastically altering nutrition standards.