From my perspective, the main event on Capitol Hill this week is the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. They start tomorrow and are likely to continue through Thursday.
The hearings will begin with opening statements. Then, each senator will have a set amount of time to speak and question Judge Jackson. The committee will vote the week of March 28 on advancing the nomination for a floor vote. Leadership aims to hold the floor vote before April 8, when the spring recess starts.
President Biden is expected to release his FY2023 budget request on March 28, kicking off a convoluted process. Ideally, it will culminate in agreement on education and other funding levels by Oct. 1, when the federal government’s fiscal year begins.
The budget request may also provide more information about plans to take on the mental health crisis, announced during the State of the Union address.
Qualified caregivers are in short supply. Just 4,000 of the nation’s more than 100,000 clinical psychologists deal with children and adolescents, according to the American Psychological Association. The ratio of school psychologists is 1 per 1,211 students, far above the 1 per 500 students recommended by the National Association of School Psychologists.
I look forward to learning more about President Biden’s pledge to expand mental health services for students. As he said in a tweet, “Having a broken spirit is no different than having a broken arm.”
In solidarity,
Marc Egan
Government Relations Director
National Education Association
The daughter of public school teachers and a public high school graduate herself, she represents the best of the legal profession and the best of America.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased stress among students, as well as educators struggling to be there for their students while coping with challenges of their own.
CHEER: 14 Republicans joined Democrats in confirming Shalanda Young as director of the Office of Management and Budget by a vote of 61-36. She is the first Black woman to lead OMB. .
CHEER: The House Education and Labor Committee advanced the School Shooting Safety & Preparedness Act (H.R. 5428), which would lay the groundwork for providing uniform data on school shootings to parents, policymakers, and the American people.
