Loan Program for Low-Income Students Left to Die

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Perkins Loan Program Expires. The federal Perkins Loan program expired with the end of the fiscal year on Saturday night. More than 200 House lawmakers asked leadership for a vote on the legislation (H.R. 2482) to reauthorize the Perkins Loan program for an additional two years. A bill was also introduced in the Senate (S. 1808) sponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Susan Collins (R-ME). But the efforts were blocked in both chambers by key lawmakers from the House and Senate education committees, Inside Higher Ed reports. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) blocked legislation in the Senate that would have kept the decades-old loan program alive for two more years. Alexander objected to an effort by Baldwin to pass the bill (S. 1808) by unanimous consent. In the House, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on the floor that there were no plans to vote on the companion bill.

Trump Nominates Jim Blew to Department of Education. The Trump administration announced the nomination of Jim Blew to serve as the U.S. Education Department’s assistant secretary of the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. Blew is currently director of the education advocacy group Student Success California, and is the former president of Students First, a national advocacy organization founded by former D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. He was also a key adviser to the Walton family, serving as director of K-12 reform investments for the Walton Family Foundation. Education Week has more.

DeVos Speaks at Harvard. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos defended her views on school choice, campus sexual assault and bathroom access for transgender students during a speech at Harvard University that was met with protests, according to reports in the Harvard Gazette and Boston.com.