Transcript Highlights:

• turning or students left and right.
• all the students support.
• We spend a lot of time working with our students and any student who doesn't pass the and collects for
• And then the second thing is at the student level, could there be some kind of incentive to the student
• the students.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It started at 40. students—40 medical students in 2009.
• You can't train medical students, nursing students, or health professional students.
• , including 13 MD-PhD students, we only make an offer to 245 pure medical students. 90% of the students
• About 42% of my students are first-generation college students, and about 48% of my students are Pell-eligible
• students.

Bills: SB1, SB 1

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Our most vulnerable students, English language learners, low-income students, students with learning
• High-need students are low-income students, ELL students, and students with disabilities.
• or 100 students.
• We are a student-run, student-funded student organization that advocates for public interest issues affecting
• I want to tell you about one student, a former student of mine.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Ways and Means Committee held its final public hearing on the FY26 state budget, with chairs and members emphasizing that public testimony would help shape the budget and asking speakers to keep remarks brief. Committee leaders introduced members, explained the hearing process, and repeatedly thanked residents, students, and advocates for participating. No votes were taken during the hearing. Testimony focused heavily on education funding and the Chapter 70 formula. Students from Amherst, Northampton, Gateway Regional, Chester Elementary, and other districts described budget-driven cuts to electives, special education supports, paraprofessionals, counselors, transportation, and building maintenance. They urged higher Chapter 70 aid, increased minimum aid, rural school aid, and a reopening or restructuring of the funding formula, arguing that current formulas leave many districts unable to meet student needs and force local layoffs and overrides. Other speakers urged funding or protection for a range of programs and facilities, including the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute for homicide survivor services, the Museum of African American History, the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and CART/interpreter services, the Access to Counsel housing legal aid program, the Department of Mental Health and Pocasset Mental Health Center, and Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children. One speaker opposed offshore wind-related spending and urged a reset of the state’s energy approach, while another advocated ending the aircraft sales tax exemption. Committee members responded sympathetically to many speakers, asked a few follow-up questions, and several expressed support for maintaining or expanding the programs discussed.

Transcript Highlights:

• than the students. than the students.
• Minnesota students. Minnesota students.
• . students. students.
• with student loan debt. with student loan debt.
• . students. students.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They're student athletes.
• They're either student athletes or former student athletes that were suing for additional rights.
• They're student athletes.
• But I’m a former student athlete.
• student athletes alike.

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing on name, image, and likeness (NIL) and financial literacy for student athletes, with members framing California as a national leader on NIL but emphasizing the need for stronger protections and more consistent education. The chair and witnesses discussed how NIL opportunities now include both third-party endorsement deals and school revenue-sharing arrangements, and how the current landscape varies widely by institution, leaving athletes with a patchwork of rules and support. Several witnesses argued that student athletes, especially younger ones and those from low-income or first-generation backgrounds, are vulnerable to predatory contracts, tax problems, and pressure from family, agents, or lenders. The first panel featured Tyree Dillingham and Brandon Copeland, who called for standardized financial literacy, better guardrails against predatory NIL advances, and a player-led association or similar collective voice for athletes. They described examples of athletes not understanding paychecks, taxes, or contract terms, and warned that some schools and collectives blur the line between education and marketing. Copeland also argued that college athletics now functions like a professional business and that athletes need representation and a standard contract structure to protect them. The second panel focused on lived experience, including testimony from attorney Anthony Coronae and student athlete Mikey Williams. Coronae described reviewing a contract that he said functioned like a predatory loan disguised as marketing support, with the company taking exclusive rights to Williams’ NIL and requiring repayment far beyond the advance. Williams testified that he signed without a lawyer, later lost endorsements, scholarship, and housing stability, and only later learned the contract’s consequences. He said a required financial literacy course at Sacramento State helped him begin to understand budgeting, taxes, and contracts, and he urged the legislature to require legal review or stronger safeguards for athletes. The third panel, from San Diego State University, highlighted a more structured institutional model. Athletic director Brendan Hill described a mandatory four-year life-skills program that includes financial literacy, resume workshops, internships, and branding education, while student athlete Sloan Benchoff said the program helped her manage money and prepare for post-college life. Witnesses agreed that support is uneven across schools, that some agents and lenders are exploiting athletes, and that California should consider standardized financial education and agent regulation while also being careful not to create rules that unintentionally restrict athlete rights. No formal vote or bill action was taken at the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• , white students, Hispanic students, and black students in California.
• students.
• The, just the increase and exponential impact, negative impact on students of color and students who
• Unfortunately that our students of color and our students who are economically disadvantaged and our
• Not just students. I think our students who even before were not qualified for free meals.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Those 530 students are students who could fill jobs tomorrow if we give them a reason why.
• to the students.
• We know that that's going to include BSN students, that's going to include RN students, that's going
• to include LPN students, and that could include pre-nursing students.
• I'm a mother, student, and advocate, and a future lawyer. Student, advocate, and a future lawyer.

Bills: HF2634, HF2241, HF2649, HF2520, HF2610

Keywords: North Star Promise, scholarship, higher education, Minnesota Office of Higher Education, in-demand jobs, workforce development, career training, job market, high-demand occupations, high-demand industries, college aid, state financial aid, FAFSA, student eligibility, program of study, degree program, certificate program, community college, university, labor market data

Transcript Highlights:

• Students than we do.
• Students aren't satisfied with that. Are some of our students satisfied with that? Sure they are.
• 743 students? 722.
• per student?
• So all students had access.

Transcript Highlights:

• Students move back and forth.
• the student.
• Would get a student ID number, just like students in neighborhood public schools, so that when the student
• If you're trying to find out where a student is to make sure that the resources that student needs are
• And you may have a student who is an autistic student, who shows up in one of our scholarship programs

Summary: The committee first heard the Pre-K-12 education budget proposal for fiscal year 2025-26 and voted to adopt it as the committee’s recommendation to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The proposed $34.7 billion budget includes increases for the FEFP, Family Empowerment Scholarships, VPK, school safety, the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, school hardening, Jewish day school security, and an education enrollment stabilization fund. Members asked no questions on the budget before it was advanced, and staff was authorized to make technical corrections. The committee then passed CS/SB 1402, which expands eligibility for dropout retrieval services to any individual who has withdrawn from high school and clarifies how school grades are calculated for virtual instruction providers that offer only dropout retrieval services. An amendment to clarify the grading calculation was adopted without objection, and the bill was reported favorably after a roll call vote. The committee also took up SPB 7030, a comprehensive scholarship-program bill sponsored by Senator Gates, which would separate Family Empowerment Scholarship funding as its own categorical, expand the education stabilization fund, create fall and spring application windows, require a single scholarship application and more documentation, assign student IDs, change payments to a monthly schedule, require background checks for paid instructional providers, mandate annual FTE audits by the Auditor General, and standardize reimbursement and eligibility procedures. After extensive discussion and public testimony, the bill was adopted as a committee bill and reported favorably, with Senator Osgood voting no. Finally, the committee considered CS/SB 508, which requires private schools participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program to disclose in writing what accommodations, modifications, and services they will provide for students with existing plans such as IEPs, 504 plans, or ELL plans. An amendment was adopted to require public schools to consult with private schools about equitable services, and the bill was reported favorably. Public testimony included support from parent-choice advocates and concerns from private-school representatives about administrative burden and the scope of the required disclosures. The meeting concluded after the final roll call votes and adjournment motion.

Transcript Highlights:

• the students because we're doing the educating of the students, partnering with the parents before we
• It is the ability for a teacher were not talking students to connect to that student information system
• They have to group the students and then they have to locate to Co double tax based on how the students
• They turn that over to the students and the students are using their own skills and their leadership
• , students, how the school protect, you know, students, personal data when they're you seen a I. >> Is

Transcript Highlights:

• And then finally, student mobility, and that's essentially students moving in and out of schools because
• it defined as Native American students, English learners, low-income students, and students with disabilities
• Raise student results and also kind of gets to the polling you started off with, asking students about
• They just need to have secondary students. Students for that funding.
• Grade students who couldn't read.

Transcript Highlights:

• students, or students in special education.
• students are students in special education.
• , having staff that look like our students and that our students can relate to.
• and 23% for white students.
• They dampen student attendance, and they disproportionately affect students of color.

Summary: The Select Committee on Youth Mental Health and Treatment Access held its third hearing to review the state of youth mental health, progress under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), and remaining implementation and funding challenges. The chair emphasized that schools are often the main point where education, health care, and social services intersect for students, and that the committee’s goal is to ensure public investments translate into better access and outcomes. The hearing featured testimony from researchers, a youth advocate, state officials, and local practitioners. PPIC researcher Shalini Mostala reported that teen mental health remains a serious concern, with high rates of chronic sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts, though recent California data show some improvement since the pandemic. She noted persistent disparities by gender, race, and rural status, and said school-based health centers, wellness centers, and community schools are associated with lower suicidal thoughts. Youth advocate Ella Cruz, speaking for NAMI California, described her own mental health struggles and argued that youth voice, peer-to-peer support, and reducing stigma are essential; she also said technology and AI cannot replace trusted adults or trained professionals. Committee members asked about phone use, stigma, cultural barriers, and how to make supports more accessible and relatable to students. Dr. Sohill Sood of the California Health and Human Services Agency said statewide survey data show declining stigma, increased counseling use, and lower suicide ideation among students, and he highlighted CYBHI’s certified wellness coaches, digital tools, awareness campaigns, and the first-in-the-nation fee schedule that allows schools and colleges to bill health plans for behavioral health services. He said the program is growing quickly, with more than 230,000 claims and over $11 million in new revenue to date, while acknowledging that billing systems and coordination are still being built. Trina Frazier of Fresno County described a multi-tiered system of care supported by CYBHI, CalAIM, and other grants, serving thousands of students through school-based services, wellness centers, and mobile therapy units; she said ongoing funding and flexibility are critical. Rachel Kroberniski of El Segundo High School’s James Morehouse Project described a long-running wellness center and peer mentorship model that supports students in multiple languages, and said peer programs help students feel seen, connected, and more willing to seek help. Members broadly praised the flexibility, collaboration, and peer-based approaches described by the witnesses. Questions focused on sustaining funding after one-time grants expire, improving coordination among schools, counties, and providers, expanding the fee schedule to higher education, and ensuring continuity of care for students after high school. Officials said county offices of education, DHCS, and other partners are using communities of practice and technical assistance to spread best practices, and that CYBHI services can follow some young adults through age 25, with additional supports through community-based programs and digital platforms.

Transcript Highlights:

• What does this change do for, Duly enrolled students.
• What does this change do for, duly enrolled students.
• And then, of course, you know, on that student focus, it's student course load and capacity.
• student needs and provide targeted supports and interventions to help these students gain English language
• to help inform instruction and support students.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Over 45% of Massachusetts public school students are students of color, yet only 10% of the state's public
• I'm writing today to testify in support of the All Students Thrive Act because students and families
• Even though these students make up a significant portion of the student population and are present in
• These students make up a significant portion of the student population and are present in every classroom
• we have these students in our class.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Education held its 13th hearing, chaired by Senator Jason Lewis and Representative Gordon, and heard testimony on a large slate of bills covering personnel and miscellaneous education issues. The first major topic was House Bill 711 and Senate Bill 327, the “So All Students Thrive” proposal, which would change reduction-in-force rules so districts could consider teacher effectiveness, student impact, staffing needs, and diversity-related factors alongside seniority. Supporters from Educators for Excellence, including teachers and a former school committee chair, argued that current seniority-based layoff rules can push out effective early-career educators and harm efforts to build a more diverse workforce. Committee members raised questions about tenure, union involvement, and how the bill would interact with the Educator Diversity Act and local contract negotiations; members generally said they shared the goal of diversifying the educator workforce and encouraged continued collaboration and feedback. The committee then heard testimony on House Bill 658, which would require educator training on gifted and advanced learners. Parents, teachers, researchers, and advocates said Massachusetts lacks required preservice or professional development on gifted education, leaving many advanced students unchallenged and underserved. Witnesses described students who are bored, under-identified, or even discouraged in school, and argued that training would help teachers recognize and support gifted students, including students of color, multilingual learners, low-income students, and students with disabilities. Testimony also supported related prior bills on advanced learners and emphasized that the state should act on a 2019 DESE report recommending such training. The committee also heard testimony on House Bill 736 and Senate Bill 435, which would establish de-escalation training for school transportation. The Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council said the measure would improve safety for students and bus operators, fill a gap in current school bus driver certification requirements, and better support students with disabilities. Finally, the committee heard House Bill 4720, concerning the Athol-Royalston Regional School District’s state bailout-related reserve requirements; the superintendent said the district has long maintained fiscal stability but is still forced to leave over half a million dollars unspent each year, limiting resources for a high-poverty student population. After testimony concluded, the chairs read the full list of bills on the agenda, thanked the committee and staff, and the hearing was adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• management and student support. management and student support.
• student loan programs. student loan programs.
• , independent students, students with dependence.
• students, students with dependence. students, students with dependence.
• public students versus private students. public students versus private students.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• of our student population.
• You can see that our students made steady gains, with elementary students moving.
• We have members of those groups here today, our students, and we're student-focused.
• It's my student leadership team.
• Students are rising.

Transcript Highlights:

• require student screen use. require student screen use.
• class of students at once. class of students at once.
• students to know about technology?" students to know about technology?"
• And you know, students were more engaged, students were socializing more.
• students were socializing more. students were socializing more.

Bills: HF3776, HF3557, HF3585

Keywords: screen time, preschool, kindergarten, early childhood education, digital media, tablets, smartphones, educational technology, EdTech, classroom devices, publicly funded preschool, school policy, child development, special education, IEP, 504 plan, IFSP, Minnesota education law, climate literacy, education

Summary: The committee first approved the previous day’s minutes, then took up House File 3776, as amended by the A2 amendment, which clarified how the bill would apply to students with IEPs and 504 plans. The bill’s author argued that Minnesota should address screen time for preschool and kindergarten students, saying current law is too broad, that young children are especially vulnerable to developmental and attention harms from screens, and that parents and teachers should have more control over device use. The bill was laid over after discussion. Testimony on HF 3776 was split. Amanda Faye of Minnetonka Public Schools opposed the bill as drafted, saying it would conflict with existing academic standards, READ Act screening requirements, accessibility tools, and local control, and would force districts back to paper-based screening. Katherine Myers of Live More Screen Less supported the bill, citing concerns about early childhood screen exposure and arguing that screen-free time supports child development. Members raised concerns about local control, parental rights, and how to protect students who need devices for accommodations; the author and nonpartisan staff noted that schools can already adopt cell phone policies, but exceptions may be needed for certain students and uses. After laying over HF 3776, the committee began House File 3557. Representative Craft introduced the bill as a voluntary program to promote practical science education and workforce development tied to climate literacy, including a proposed Minnesota Seal of Climate Literacy for high school students. The bill was only introduced before the transcript ended, with no vote or final action recorded on HF 3557.

Transcript Highlights:

• The results seen in the Panorama student survey indicate that many students in New Mexico have poor perceptions
• one counselor for every 250 students.
• And nationwide in 2023-24, the counselor-to-student ratio was one counselor for every 376 students.
• To encourage student participation, we outline the needs of our students.
• This is what our students deserve.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• A new, modern student union facility that strengthens the student experience at a university known for
• Students frequently gather in the union, whether it be for collaborative projects, student organization
• I think we have a 2,500-student presence online, and we have about 23,000 students that are in person
• student?
• and first-gen students.

Bills: HB42, HB125

Keywords: special prosecutor, state law, criminal justice, accountability, law enforcement, stormwater management, counties, regulation, environment, water quality

Summary: The Committee on Higher Education met to hear several bills and first corrected the minutes from its April 1, 2025 meeting to reflect that a committee substitute for HB 271 had been adopted before the bill was reported favorably. The committee then heard HB 3326, which would help Texas higher education employees, especially adjunct faculty, qualify for federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness by counting classroom hours toward full-time status, requiring institutions to verify employment within 60 days, and requiring annual notice to eligible employees. No witnesses testified against the bill, and it was left pending. Members then heard HB 2853, authorizing UTEP to phase in a student union fee increase to fund demolition and reconstruction of its aging student union. Representative Perez and UTEP student and university witnesses said the current facility is outdated and insufficient for a campus of more than 25,000 students, while some members raised concerns about the size of the fee increase and its impact on low-income students. UTEP representatives said most students receive aid, the fee would be phased in over time, and the project was student-approved; the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HB 4066, a one-line bill to abolish the Texas Research Incentive Program after the state cleared its backlog of matching obligations, with the author saying the program was no longer needed in light of newer research funding approaches. The bill was left pending. The committee spent substantial time on HB 125, which would create the Tarleton State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Supporters, including Tarleton leadership, the founding dean, a rural hospital CEO, and a feasibility consultant, argued the school would address severe rural physician shortages by recruiting Texas and rural students, training them in rural settings, and developing new residency slots rather than competing for existing ones. Members asked about affordability, residency placement, and whether the school would draw students from rural Texas; Tarleton said it would seek to keep tuition and debt low, had already raised private donations, and would request $25 million in state support over the biennium. The bill was left pending. Finally, the committee heard HB 42, which would increase the annual Higher Education Fund appropriation and adjust its allocation methodology. The chair and university witnesses described rising deferred maintenance, inflation, cybersecurity needs, and enrollment growth at HEAF-eligible institutions, with witnesses from Texas Tech, Sam Houston State, and UNT saying the additional funding would help address aging facilities and technology needs. After testimony, the committee left HB 42 pending and recessed.

Transcript Highlights:

• that our elementary school students use. that our elementary school students use.
• impact on students of color and students impact on students of color and students experiencing<00
• Students could request books.
• continue to student well-being. continue to student well-being.
• offerings for American Indian students. offerings for American Indian students.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all