| | | | |  | | By Juan Perez Jr. | Presented by The Association of American Universities | | | 
National Education Association President Becky Pringle (right) and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten speak during the 2024 Democratic National Convention. | Erin Hooley/AP | THE AUTOPSY — Education union leaders are sorting through the wreckage of an election that condemned the Democratic Party to years in the political wilderness. — National Education Association President Becky Pringle and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten don’t agree about everything that occurred Nov. 5. “We need to understand the complete story of what the hell happened,” Pringle told your host. Weingarten declared: “The price of eggs, that’s what happened.” — But in separate interviews, both women charted similar views on Democrats’ future path (and the types of figures and philosophies the party should ignore) after organized labor failed to boost Vice President Kamala Harris into the White House. — Both unions are researching and polling to find answers as liberals broadly grieve lost federal campaigns with finger-pointing and recriminations. But here are some early takeaways: — Weingarten wants the party to break away from its business-friendly donor class. — “The days of trying to placate the neoliberals should be over,” she said. “I understand the need for money, but Democrats have to be the party of the working class. I think our policies are very representative of people in the middle class and the working class. But if people don't hear it, then it's as if they don’t exist.” — Pringle warns against assuming working-class voters walked away from unions , or from the teacher union education policy agenda. — “Our theory on the case is still solid,” Pringle said. “As we unpack where we made an impact and where we didn’t — and we don’t know that yet — we need to factor that into honing a message to make sure we’re reaching the very people that we need to organize to ensure we have elected leaders at every level who are centering our kids and public education.” — Both women acknowledge party supporters are steeped in debate over how to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, and that it may take a while before a plan can solidify. — “I'm not going to talk about the organizing that's happening right now. It’s still inchoate. It has to emerge,” Weingarten said. “There are people who are going to say: ‘Fight everything.’ I’m not in that camp.” — Pringle added: “One of the things we have to caution against is only looking at fighting back. … We have to fight for what we want. We have to have a vision of what that is, too.” IT’S MONDAY, NOV. 18. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. State leaders are pushing to secure billions of dollars in Medicaid funds that will affect their state budgets and bottom lines in the waning days of the Biden administration. Many pending applications are to have Medicaid pay for social services. Reach out with tips to today’s host at jperez@politico.com and also my colleagues Becca Carballo ( rcarballo@politico.com), Bianca Quilantan (bquilantan@politico.com) and Mackenzie Wilkes (mwilkes@politico.com).
| | A message from AAU: America’s leading research universities are supporting local farmers across the country through innovative cooperative extension programs that help them increase crop yields and fight new invasive species. Learn more about how AAU is breaking through to boost American agriculture and help farming communities. | | | | | | | | 
People take photos near a John Harvard statue (left) on the Harvard University campus on Jan. 2 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | Steven Senne/AP | ENROLLMENT REBOUND — Foreign student enrollment in U.S. colleges hit a record high last school year, Bianca reports, as she digs into new statistics out today that suggest a strong rebound is underway three years after the pandemic decimated attendance. — A historic 1,126,690 international students studied in the country during the 2023-2024 school year — a 7 percent increase from the previous year, according to a new report from the Institute of International Education. IIE attributes the increase to more students pursuing graduate degrees in math and science fields, along with a program that allows students to gain work experience after they finish college. — “We really see U.S. leadership in international education as bolstering our national security and prosperity , [and] advancing the interests of the American people,” said Marianne Craven, acting deputy assistant secretary for academic programs at the State Department, which releases the annual foreign student headcount with the institute. — IIE CEO Allan Goodman is dismissing concerns about potential international student enrollment declines after Trump takes office. Goodman said the forecast for the next four years continues to show growth. — “ What the data tells us from previous periods is that international enrollment in America has tended to increase," he said.
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| | |  The US Supreme Court is seen on the first day of a new term in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 7. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images | JOINING THE FIGHT — Authorities in eight conservative-led states want the Supreme Court to settle the fate of an Oklahoma public religious charter school, an atypical request that shows other jurisdictions are looking to help clear new paths for taxpayer-funded religious education. — Conservative legal organizations are already asking the country’s highest court to overturn this summer’s Oklahoma state court ruling that rejected plans to open the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School as a violation of state and federal law. States joined the legal pressure campaign as part of a series of supportive post Election Day filings that have set battle lines for a potential appeal. — “It’s admittedly unusual for state attorneys general to challenge the constitutionality of another state’s laws,” the attorneys general of South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, and Utah wrote this month in a joint brief to the Supreme Court. — But, they said, “the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling is an expansion of the ever-widening split of authority regarding foundational constitutional rights, and the record must be set straight.” — School choice laws in South Carolina and Nebraska experienced major setbacks this fall. In September, South Carolina’s Supreme Court rejected the state’s private scholarship program. Nebraska voters earlier this month voted to repeal another private school scholarship program. A Texas-sized fight over vouchers is also brewing in the Lone Star State’s forthcoming legislative session. — The states argue the Oklahoma case has implications for their ability to contract with religious organizations and provide public aid to religious organizations. If states can’t offer charter school contracts to religious organizations, they argue their own programs to subsidize grants, scholarships, and tuition assistance programs may also be at risk. — “ If a state categorically excludes religious schools from charter school contracts, it necessarily prioritizes secular values over quality of education,” the states added. “When a failing nonsectarian school stands a better chance of being approved for a charter school contract than a thriving religious school, students suffer for it.” — Oklahoma’s attorney general’s office is expected to detail its opposition to having the Supreme Court take up the case by Dec. 9.
| | | | A message from AAU:   | | | | | PAYDAY REPORT — The Education Department has not addressed how a looming flood of payments to college athletes should comply with federal laws that prohibit sex discrimination, but the agency is now facing added pressure from congressional lawmakers to weigh in. — The House Democratic Women’s Caucus says a pending legal settlement that’s set to award athletes billions of dollars in back pay and a share of future sports program revenue is “incredibly lopsided” against women. — “We are deeply concerned that, if approved, the back-payment thresholds established in the settlement could be misinterpreted as compliant with Title IX or used as a justification to apply Title IX to athlete compensation going forward,” lawmakers wrote as they urged the department to set out guidance on the matter. — Meanwhile, in Florida, POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury reports universities are searching for ways to pump more money into sports to help pay athletes — and using state dollars could be on the table. — “It’s an arms race, let’s call it what it is," Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said during a meeting of top university officials in October. "This could be affected by having other states decide. You have Alabama, or you have Tennessee — you have other places decide that they’re going to pour some state funds into this, and then it puts our universities at a disadvantage.”
| | | | NOT A GREAT LOOK — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received a record number of complaints last year about student loans, Becca reports. The bureau combed through 18,000 complaints for the 2023-2024 award year , which is the highest number the agency has gotten since it began tracking them more than a decade ago. The complaints often focused on loan servicers’ improperly processed payments and delayed income-driven payment applications. “Student borrowers continue to face lengthy delays and costly errors because of servicer failures,” said Rohit Chopra, the agency’s director. The report suggests borrowers who have experienced such disruptions should temporarily have student loan payments paused until the issues are rectified.
| | | | Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | | | | | | | — House passes FAFSA deadline bill: POLITICO Pro — A star university president’s resignation was a mystery. Was it all about rankings?: The New York Times — Inside Big Tech’s bid to sink the online kid safety bill: The Wall Street Journal — The Social Security Fairness Act is now in the hands of the Senate. Here's what could happen next: CBS News — Expect changes to how student socioeconomic status data is recorded on the Nation’s Report Card: National Assessment Governing Board
| | A message from AAU: Through extension programs in states around the country, America’s leading research universities are bringing the latest science-based solutions to farmers and ranchers to help them increase crop yields, endure extreme weather challenges and improve their bottom lines. See how AAU members lead the way in agriculture to help support local farmers and their communities. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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