Giles’ Testimony, 4 Bills
Jessica Giles
Executive Director
Education Reform Now Advocacy
D.C. Council’s Committee of the Whole Hearing:
Bill 25-35, Universal School Meals Amendment Act of 2023
Bill 25-317, Extended Students’ Right to Home and Hospital Instruction Amendment Act of 2023
Bill 25-436, Institution of Higher Education Sexual Misconduct Reporting and Resource Accessibility Act of 2023
Bill 25-501, Universal Free Application for Federal Student Aid Graduation Requirement Act of 2023
Good morning, Chairman Mendelson, members, and staff of the Committee of the Whole; my name is Jessica Giles. I am a ward seven resident and the Executive Director of Education Reform Now Advocacy (ERNA DC), an organization fighting for a just and equitable public education system for all DC students. I am pleased to testify at this Committee of the Whole hearing. I will give oral testimony on Bill 25- 501, the Universal Free Application for Federal Student Aid Graduation Requirement Act of 2023, although my written testimony contains support for all four bills under consideration today.
Bill 25-501, Universal Free Application for Federal Student Aid Graduation Requirement Act of 2023
Bill 25-501 will require each District of Columbia public high school student file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with the United States Department of Education as a prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma, with an option to opt-out of this requirement by completing a waiver form administered by the Office of the State Superintendent. It also requires the Mayor to collect data on FAFSA completion and postsecondary enrollment. We support this legislation and I want to make five points:
#1) Every student will need additional education and training beyond a high school diploma/GED to make a livable wage. 58% of jobs in D.C. require a degree.1 Unfortunately, DC is experiencing a quiet crisis in college access and completion, necessitating DC Council to take action. For every 100 students who start high school together, 25 will not graduate, 37 will graduate but not pursue further education, and 30 will start college but not complete within six years. Only eight out of 100 students will complete postsecondary within six years, pre-pandemic this number was 14. 2
#2) The number-one reason students do not enroll in and complete postsecondary education is due to financial barriers related to the cost of college or the need to work. We know this from national and local research. According to 2023 research from the Lumina Foundation and Gallup, financial barriers are most frequently identified as primary reasons why adults are not currently enrolled in postsecondary education, including costs of programs (55%), inflation (45%) and the need to work (38%). 3 CityWorks DC, an initiative that is working to establish a D.C. education-to-employment ecosystem, surveyed more than 200 high school graduates from DCPS and D.C. public charter schools who had either attended college and dropped out (also known as “stopped-out”). 4 The need for financial assistance was frequently cited as the number-one reason for not completing college. OSSE’s D.C. ReEngagement Center convened a 2022-2026 strategic planning group comprising 47 organizations, agencies, and schools, and conducted five focus groups with 30 youth (ages 16-24). During these sessions, OSSE identified several key challenges that youth experienced. Most of the challenges revolved around needing income, support, and more information and resources. 5
#3) Requiring FAFSA completion is a good thing. High school seniors who complete the FAFSA are 84% more likely to immediately enroll in postsecondary education. 6 For low-income students, FAFSA completion is associated with a 127% increase in immediate college enrollment. 7 Several states have adopted a Universal FAFSA policy already. 8 Louisiana presents the best case of how successful this policy can be. The estimated percentage of seniors who completed FAFSA increased, by more than 11 percentage points from 58.8% to 69.9%, moving Louisiana from being ranked 12th in the country to second. 9 It has consistently been ranked in first place almost every year since.
#4) The DC Council should make amendments to the bill.
Clarify Opt-Out Provision: OSSE should create an opt-out system 10 for students who are unable to access parental financial information, have undocumented parents (who are not eligible for FAFSA), or whose parents allow them to abstain.
Build-in Support for Students:
Build and provide robust training and support through school counselors and/or college and career advisers 11 to ensure students are helped throughout the process of filling out FAFSA and that they actually enroll in college or a career school. There’s little information on what type of college and career counseling students actually receive.
Consider aligning with the implementation of financial literacy standards so that students fully understand what it takes to pay for postsecondary and make a plan that works for them.
Slow Down When the Requirement Goes Into Effect: Allow at least one full FAFSA cycle to pass before the actual requirement takes effect, especially in light of the new FAFSA rules. 12 The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently shared a new press update on FAFSA. 13 The “better” FAFSA form will be available for students and parents by Dec. 31, 2023 (previously shared as December). ED predicts that updates to student aid eligibility will mean 2,468 more D.C. students will get Pell and that 6,957 more students will be eligible for full Pell.
Show Us the Data: Disaggregate FAFSA completion rates and add this information to the D.C. School Report Card to create transparency and to ensure LEAs share the responsibility for students applying for financial aid.
#5) To be clear: our students need help at every stage of postsecondary education: applying for aid, enrolling in postsecondary, and receiving support so they can complete. ERN DC released a report titled this month, “D.C.’s Quiet Crisis in College Access and Completion” which shared eight strategies. One strategy is expanding dual enrollment and early college opportunities in DC because one of the best things we can do is help students earn free college credit and career experience while in high school. Only 1,100, or 9%, of public high school students had an opportunity to take advantage of this last school year, which is mindblowing to me.
Dual enrollment – college course enrollment during high school – leads to greater two-year and four-year college enrollment, degree attainment, and earnings six years after high school, with stronger effects for traditionally underrepresented students. 14 Students in early college programs during high school are more likely than their peers to go on to college and earn a degree. Within six years after expected high school graduation, early college students were significantly more likely than control students to enroll in a four-year college (84% vs. 77%) and to enroll in two-year colleges (66% vs. 47%). 15
D.C. must establish additional early college partnerships and expand dual enrollment so it is free, easily accessible, and a core part of a student’s sophomore through senior year by providing in-person, cohort-based dual enrollment courses at local education agencies so students can earn a regular high school diploma at the same time they earn no less than 12 transferable, free college credits. Programs should cover books, curriculum development and materials, faculty training, ongoing support, and support for credit transfers. There are several positive examples in D.C. 16
To do this, D.C. will need to (1) encourage and financially incentivize institutions of higher education to select and train instructors for high school cohort classes and (2) identify high school instructors with credentials to teach college to offer dual credit courses. D.C. Council can lead and support this effort.
We’d also urge the D.C. Council to eliminate barriers for postsecondary enrollment, including banning the use of legacy admissions in Washington, DC. 17
Bill 25-35, Universal School Meals Amendment Act of 2023
This legislation would offer free universal school breakfast, lunch, and afterschool snacks to students in public, charter, and participating private schools in the District of Columbia, which we are supportive of. Hungry children cannot learn and unfortunately far too many children in Washington, DC go hungry. According to 2021 data from Feeding America, approximately 14% of children under 18 years of age experience food insecurity in DC. 18 For children living in wards 7 and 8, predominantly Black areas with the lowest median household income, there are far fewer full-service grocery stores than in wards west of the river, and this supply has remained relatively unchanged since 2021. 19 By offering students in schools with free meals regardless of their financial status would remove the stigma associated with poverty, and ultimately barriers to learning.
Bill 25-317, Extended Students’ Right to Home and Hospital Instruction Amendment Act of 2023
This legislation would add pre-birth complications, childbirth, and postpartum recovery to the list of health conditions that render students eligible for home or hospital instruction under the Students’ Right to Home or Hospital Instruction Act of 2020. Beginning in the school year 2022-2023, Law 23-204 required all District local education agencies to adopt a home or hospital instruction program for students who have been or will be absent from their school of enrollment for 10 or more consecutive or cumulative school days due to a physical or psychological condition. We are supportive of this legislation.
Students should be able to learn no matter where they are. We all should have learned this during the COVID-19 pandemic. By expanding eligibility to home and hospital instruction for students experiencing pre-birth complications, childbirth, and postpartum recovery-related health conditions, students with these conditions are given the medically necessary time to heal while continuing their education. In 2020, there were 301 teen births, so there is a need. 20 As the DC Council considers expanding this legislation, I encourage you all to inquire into whether this law has been implemented by LEAs since there have n>10 incidences, according to OSSE’s oversight responses. 21
Bill 25-436, Institution of Higher Education Sexual Misconduct Reporting and Resource Accessibility Act of 2023
This legislation addresses sexual misconduct at institutions of higher education in the District and would establish minimum criteria for institutions’ sexual misconduct policies; require annual training for certain personnel; require retention of a confidential resource advisor to support reporting parties; require amnesty protections for reporting parties; allow institutions to grant waivers from academic requirements; require annual reports; and establish penalties.
B25-436 would put policies in place that make it more likely that students can be heard and treated fairly throughout the reporting process. It puts college students in a better position to resolve challenging situations and ultimately be more likely to stay and complete their college education. We support the intent behind this legislation.
Thank you for holding this hearing. I am available to answer any questions you may have.
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1 Coffin, Chelsea and Julie Rubin. Measuring Early Career Outcomes in D.C. Policy Center, 17 Nov.2021, www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/measuring-outcomes/
2 Coffin, Chelsea and Julie Rubin. State of D.C. Schools, 14 2021-22. D.C. Policy Center, 15 March 2023, www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/schools-21-22/
3 State of Higher Education 2023. Gallup and Lumina Foundation, May 2023. https://www.luminafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/State-of-Higher-Education-2023.pdf
4 Pohlman, Richard. “On The D.C. Policy Center’s ‘State of D.C. Schools’ Report State of Schools.” CityWorks DC, March 2023. www.cityworksdc.org/in-the-news/state-of- schools
5 District of Columbia, Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Districtwide Strategic Plan to Decrease Youth Disengagement from Education, 2022-2026.
https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/Final%20Districtwide%20Strategic%20Plan%20to%20Decrease%20Disengagement%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
6 National College Access Network. “National FAFSA Completion Rates for High School Seniors and Graduates.” https://www.ncan.org/page/NationalFAFSACompletionRatesforHighSchoolSeniorsandGraduates
7 Ibid.
8 National College Attainment Network. “Digging Deeper into Universal FAFSA Impacts in Four States” September 7, 2022. Accessed: November 30, 2023. Source: https://www.ncan.org/news/613062/Digging-Deeper-into-Universal-FAFSA-Impacts-in-Four-States.htm
9 Ibid.
10 National College Attainment Network. Universal FAFSA Completion With Supports. Accessed November 30, 2023. Source: https://www.ncan.org/page/UniversalFAFSA
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 “U.S. Department of Education Releases New Data Highlighting How the Simplified, Streamlined, and Redesigned Better FAFSA® Form Will Help Deliver Maximum Pell Grants to 1.5 Million More Students” Source: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-new-data-highlighting-how-simplified-streamlined-and-redesigned-better-fafsa%C2%AE-form-will-help-deliver-maximum-pell-grants-15-million-more-students
14 College in High School Alliance. “Evidence of Success.”collegeinhighschool.org/what-we-do/evidence-of-success/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2023.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid. D.C.’s Quiet Crisis in College Access & Completion
17 Ibid.
18 DC Health Matters. “Child Food Insecurity Rate.” Accessed November 29, 2023. Source:
“https://www.dchealthmatters.org/indicators/index/view?indicatorId=2108&localeId=130951
19 D.C. Hunger Solutions. “Still Minding the Grocery Gap in D.C. A 2023 Update.” Accessed November 29, 2023. Source: https://www.dchunger.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DCHS-Report_Still-Minding-the-Grocery-Gap-2023_FV.pdf
20 Washington, DC Data. Accessed November 29, 2023. Source: https://powertodecide.org/what-we-do/information/national-state-data/washington-dc
21 OSSE. Accessed November 29, 2023. Source: https://dccouncil.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/attachments.pdf
