Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona launched the “Back to School Bus Tour 2023: Raise the Bar” from Sept. 5 to Sept. 8. The week-long, multi-state road trip will showcase the many ways schools, families, and communities are doubling down on accelerating student learning and raising the bar in education.

The “Back to School Bus Tour 2023: Raise the Bar” will feature stops in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

“This year’s Back to School Bus Tour will demonstrate how states, districts, schools and higher education institutions, with strong support and investment from the Biden-Harris Administration, are already working boldly and creatively to Raise the Bar for education in our country – from fostering academic recovery to investing in mental health supports, strengthening and supporting the educator workforce to expanding out-of-school time programs, and building new career pathways to efforts to increase college access and affordability,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “To serve our nation’s students well for years to come, we need to see pockets of excellence in some places become systems of success in all places. I’m looking forward to lifting up great models in education and highlighting how our country benefits when we work together to invest in our children and young people – the future of our nation.”

Throughout the week, Secretary Cardona, Deputy Secretary Cindy Marten, and Undersecretary James Kvaal, will join national, state, and local school leaders to speak with students, parents, and educators for events that celebrate the back-to-school season and underscore the Administration’s commitment to helping students recover from the impacts of the pandemic and continue on the road to success. As part of the “Back to School Bus Tour 2023: Raise the Bar,” Administration officials will highlight academic and mental health programs and efforts to recruit and support educators funded by President Biden’s ARP, which provided historic resources to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities to reopen schools and help students of all ages recover.

Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Prepare for a Safe and Successful School Year

Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken bold action to get schools back open safely amidst a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and provide states, school districts, and colleges and universities the resources they need to help students recover academically and thrive.

When President Biden took office, less than half of K-12 schools were open for in-person learning. Within three months, President Biden had signed the historic ARP, providing $170 billion in funds for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities to reopen safely, stay open, and put students on the pathway to recovery and success. Over the last two years, schools have invested billions of ARP dollars to help students catch up academically, expand access to mental health supports, and hire more high-quality educators, and today, all schools are safely open for in-person learning and students nationwide are on the path to academic recovery.

The Biden-Harris Administration also launched efforts to expand access to effective academic and mental health supports in K-12 schools, including:

• Launched the National Partnership for Student Success. Through NPSS, ED and partners are leading strategic efforts to recruit 250,000 new tutors and mentors to help catch up academically and thrive.
• Launched the Engage Every Student Initiative to help communities use ARP funds, alongside other state and local funds, to ensure that every child who wants a spot in a high-quality, out-of-school time program has one, whether through a high-quality summer or afterschool program.
• Awarded over $2 billion in BSCA funding to expand vital mental health services and provide additional support for states and districts to design and enhance initiatives that will promote safer, more inclusive, and positive school environments for all students, educators, and school staff.
• Provided technical assistance to states, including dozens of fact sheets, FAQs, Dear Colleague Letters, webinars, and other guidance to elevate evidence-based interventions and practices to help students accelerate their learning, and to make clear how federal resources can support these practices. This includes launching the Raise the Bar: Best Practices Clearinghouse, which includes hundreds of evidence-based examples of how schools are using ESSER funds to support academic and mental health recovery and how school leaders and communities across the country can leverage these funds.

Click here to read more about details about the bus tour.

When students feel safe and welcome enough to bring their full selves to school, they thrive. And for many young people, their religious or secular identity is a core component of who they are. Students do not check those affiliations at the door when they enter their school or campus community – nor should they feel pressured to do so.  

Hosted by the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on July 18th, 2023, this convening followed the US Department of Education’s Free to Learn call to action, encouraging school and campus communities to enhance school safety, improve school climate, and support all students’ mental health and well-being. Sessions explored models for promoting religious literacy, rights, and obligations of schools to accommodate students’ religious needs, and strategies for preventing and addressing bullying that students may experience because of their actual or perceived religious affiliation. Participants received the latest information from the field and heard directly from members of the Biden-Harris Administration about how we are raising the bar for students of diverse religious and nonreligious backgrounds.   

 Joining us on Tuesday, July 18, 2023? Visit Free to Learn: Inclusion, Rights, and Accommodations for Students of All Faiths and None to watch live. View the program booklet and speaker bios. 

Related resources from the Biden-Harris Administration: 

• FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates the Second Anniversary of the Reestablishment of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships 
• Secretary Cardona’s Remarks on Religious Liberty in Schools 
• Inclusive Learning Environments for Religiously Diverse Students 
• Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 
• Biden-Harris Administration Proposes Restoring Protections for Beneficiaries of Federally Funded Social Services 
• The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism 
• Protecting Students from Discrimination Based on Shared Ancestry or Ethnic Characteristics
• Training and Advisory Service – Equity Assistance Centers 
• Resources for Trauma-Informed Care 
• Academic & Mental Health Recovery
• Raise the Bar: Lead the World | U.S. Department of Education  

You are cordially invited to tune in live on Tuesday, July 18, as the U.S. Department of Education hosts the conference “Free to Learn: Inclusion, Rights, and Accommodations for Students of All Faiths and None.” Organized by the Department’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the conference will explore models for promoting religious literacy, rights, and obligations of schools to accommodate students’ religious needs, and strategies for preventing and addressing bullying that students may experience because of their actual or perceived religious affiliation. Participants will receive the latest information from the field and hear directly from members of the Biden-Harris administration.

America’s students are of many different religious or nonreligious affiliations — they are Protestant, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, Mormon, Jain, Catholic, atheist, Muslim, Sikh, agnostic, and so on — and even for students who hold the same tradition, how they observe that tradition might look different from their peers.

Students don’t check those affiliations at the door when they enter their school or campus community, nor should they. The Department is committed to supporting students across the country to ensure they are safe, supported, and valued in our country’s schools and communities, as their whole selves.

This conference follows the Department’s Free to Learn call to action, encouraging school and campus communities to enhance school safety, improve school climate, and support all students’ mental health and well-being. We can only raise the bar for education when all students are free to learn, as their full selves.

We hope you will join us as we discuss how to support religious freedom and religious inclusion for students from preschool through higher education. We’ll be joined by Education Secretary Dr. Miguel Cardona, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, and Melissa Rogers, Executive Director of the White House for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, among other special guests.

Register now to join us live on Tuesday, July 18. We hope to see you there!

Thank you,

Maggie Siddiqi

Director, Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Today, the Supreme Court upended decades of precedent that enabled America’s colleges and universities to build vibrant diverse environments where students are prepared to lead and learn from one another. Although the Court’s decision threatens to move the country backwards, the Biden-Harris Administration will fight to preserve the hard-earned progress we have made to advance racial equity and civil rights and expand educational opportunity for all Americans. 

As our nation’s colleges and universities consider their admissions processes in the wake of the Court’s decision, President Biden is calling on them to seize the opportunity to expand access to educational opportunity for all. Our nation is stronger when our colleges and universities reflect the vast and rich diversity of our people.  

Click here to read more about how the Biden-Harris administration is taking action. 

“Today’s Supreme Court decision takes our country decades backward, sharply limiting a vital tool that colleges have used to create vibrant, diverse campus communities. Students of color have long faced inequities in education and college access, and today’s ruling is yet another blow to the fight for equal opportunity. As we consider today’s decision, our commitment to educational opportunity for all Americans is unshaken, and our efforts to promote diversity in higher education are undeterred. The Department of Education is a civil rights agency, committed to equal access and educational opportunity for all students.” 

Click here to read more.  

Join the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on Wednesday, March 22, 3:00 P.M. ET, for our session at the American Federation of Teachers’ 2023 Share My Lesson Virtual Conference. Representatives from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice will share guidance and strategies for welcoming, accommodating, and fostering inclusive learning environments for students of all faiths and none. Register here

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote this opinion piece yesterday for Newsweek:

“When it comes to education, there is far more that unites parents across America than divides us. As secretary of education, a parent, and a former teacher and principal, I’ve seen that no matter a parent’s political leaning, their top priority is making sure that their child has access to a school where they can learn and feel welcome, and a quality education where they can succeed in whichever career they choose.

Unfortunately, some politicians and elected officials in recent years have been less focused on that, and are more interested in using education as a means to divide, not unite.

That approach does nothing to help students across the country. None of the nearly 10,000 parents with whom my team and I have met since the president took office said they wanted more culture wars or partisan politics in schools. While each of these parents brought their own distinct needs and perspectives, they were united by a focus on their child’s ability to learn now—and thrive in the future.

That’s exactly what we’re focused on. From Day One of President Joe Biden‘s tenure, we have made authentic parent engagement a top priority, not only embedding the needs of parents and families into most of our programs, but also creating new opportunities for parents to engage directly with the Department of Education and with their own school communities.

Click here to read more.

Today the White House issued a fact sheet highlighting the second year of accomplishments of the Centers for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships across all federal agencies:

“Two years ago this week, President Biden signed an executive order reestablishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (the “Partnerships Office”). The mission of this office is to serve people in need by collaborating with interested faith-based and community organizations. The Partnerships Office is an essential part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to bring people of all backgrounds and beliefs together to meet our challenges, build a more perfect union, and restore the soul of our country.

The Partnerships Office works with agency Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (“agency Centers”) at the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs; the U.S. Agency for International Development; the Small Business Administration; and staff at AmeriCorps, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Transportation. Over the past year, this team has collaborated with a wide range of faith-based and neighborhood organizations to advance shared priorities such as safeguarding the right to practice faith without fear; expanding opportunity, especially for disadvantaged or underserved communities; responding to disasters; helping people struggling with mental health and substance use problems; improving maternal and child health; addressing hunger and nutrition; welcoming refugees; protecting the environment; and assisting with preparedness, response, and recovery from COVID-19….”

Click here to read more.

Every year, the President proclaims January as a month dedicated to the awareness and prevention of human trafficking:

“Around the world, human trafficking has stripped nearly 25 million people of their safety, dignity, and liberty — disproportionately affecting historically underserved and marginalized communities.  During National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we reaffirm our commitment to ending this inhumane and immoral practice in all its forms.  And as we bring perpetrators to justice, we renew our pledge to help survivors recover and rebuild their lives.”

In recognition of National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools and the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments hosted a two-part miniseries focused on the roles of families in human trafficking, including participation, prevention, and intervention:

• Part 1: Supporting Students Who Have Experienced Familial Human Trafficking: (Archived from Jan. 11) The first webinar of the two-part miniseries described the unique needs of students trafficked by a family member. Subject matter experts, including people with lived experience, provided brief presentations on the impacts of familial trafficking and, through a panel discussion, shared approaches to supporting these students.

• Part 2: Engaging Families in Preventing and Addressing Human Trafficking: (Recording from Jan. 25) During the second webinar, subject matter experts offered a variety of approaches for school personnel to work with families to build protective factors in their children to lessen the risk of victimization and to support students who have been trafficked.

Also, in recognition of National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a Newly Revised Faith-Based Community Leaders Human Trafficking Toolkit which is a human trafficking resource to engage Houses of Worship and the community to help raise awareness of human trafficking. It also provides guidance on how to respond to the needs of victims or those vulnerable to harm. The toolkit is also available in Spanish. Learn more about other DHS Blue Campaign Resources, including the General Awareness Training Video.

The US Department of Education’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships is holding a virtual event series on religious literacy to support greater understanding and inclusion of America’s religious diversity. The series is aimed at supporting public PreK-12 schools with strategies for welcoming, accommodating, and fostering inclusive learning environments for students of diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds.

ED Religious Literacy Series, Part 1: Preventing and Addressing Bullying

January 19, 2023, 4:00 – 5:00 pm. ET

The first event of this three-part series will specifically focus on facilitating more inclusive learning environments by preventing and addressing bullying that students may experience because of their actual or perceived religious affiliation.

ED Religious Literacy Series, Part 2: Creating Inclusive Learning Environments for Religiously Diverse Students

February 15, 2023, 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET

The second event of this three-part series will specifically focus on facilitating more inclusive learning environments through school policies and practices, such as those related to the academic calendar, dress codes, cafeteria options, and more.