Skip to content

Member Newsletter

AESA’s weekly newsletter, Online News, is full of important updates, articles, and features. It is intended to connect members with information about what is happening at the federal level, provide AESA event information, and share news important to ESAs.

Read the Current Issue of AESA Online News

November 26, 2024: Latest Perspectives Journal Issue; Annual Conference App; Federal Advocacy; Members in the News; Business Partner Spotlight; and More!

Online News Archives

Federal Updates

HHS Releases Head Start Final Rule With More Flexibility on Wage Requirements

August 19, 2024

By Tara Thomas, Policy Analyst, AESA  This week, the Biden Administration released its long-awaited final rule on Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming. The rule updates various aspects of the Head Start Program Performance Standards, but most notably, significantly increases compensation and benefits for staff in an effort to improve retention and recruitment for the…

Read More

FY25 Appropriations Update

August 12, 2024

By Tara Thomas, Policy Analyst, AESA  On August 1, 2024, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its FY25 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) proposal. The bill increased funding for the Department of Education (ED) by $1 billion, including increases for Title I (+280 million) and IDEA (+295 million). This proposal is in stark contrast…

Read More

FCC Releases State by State Info on How Universal Service Fund Impacts States

August 12, 2024

By Noelle Ellerson Ng, Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy, AESA  Background: The Universal Service Fund is a $8 billion decades-old mechanism created by Congress in 1996 to support vital communications investments where the marketplace falls short: connecting schools and libraries to high-speed internet; helping rural hospitals adopt telemedicine; ensuring low-income households have basic communications services;…

Read More

AESA Joins EdLiNC Coalition in Expressing Deep Frustration with 5th Circuit E-Rate Decision

August 2, 2024

On July 24, the 5th Circuit struck down the funding mechanism for the universal service fund, which includes the E-Rate program. E-Rate provides $4.7 billion annually for schools and libraries to receive broadband and Wi-Fi services. This is an extreme decision that contradicts two rulings from other circuits as well as a previous three judge panel of…

Read More
Scroll To Top