The Republican who leads the U.S. Senate panel that oversees the U.S. Department of Education is entering his final months in office after losing his primary election battle this past weekend.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has been a champion of legislation to expand school choice and direct resources to students in special education since his election to the Senate in 2014.
The May 16 primary election was the first time Cassidy has faced voters since becoming just one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict President Donald Trump in an impeachment trial following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump, who attacked Cassidy’s “disloyalty” in the lead-up to the primary and endorsed one of his opponents, celebrated his defeat on social media.
Cassidy has stood by the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, but he’s tried to walk a tricky political tightrope on the president’s health agenda.
A doctor, Cassidy voted to confirm vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services.
But, when HHS’ website claimed that “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism,” Cassidy sought to correct the record.
“What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B, and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism. Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker,” Cassidy wrote on X in November.
Cassidy also helped doom the confirmation of Casey Means, a doctor and wellness influencer whom Trump nominated as surgeon general. Cassidy questioned Means’ beliefs on vaccines, which include promoting the controversial practice of “shared decision making” between doctors and patients, rather than simply recommending certain inoculations for infants and children.
Trump accused Cassidy of “intransigence” and playing “political games” in dooming Means’ nomination.
Cassidy promoted a major school choice expansion
On education issues, Cassidy was a lead Senate author of a measure creating a sweeping school choice program that will take effect early next year after it was included in broad domestic policy legislation Trump signed into law last summer.
Taxpayers can claim dollar-for-dollar tax credits in exchange for donations to organizations that award private school scholarships and assistance for some public school-related expenses such as tutoring and after-school programs. So far, at least 30 states are on track to participate in the program.
Cassidy also worked to secure emergency COVID relief aid for nonpublic schools.
Cassidy has spoken publicly and emotionally about his struggles finding the right educational approach for his daughter, who has dyslexia, and he has worked across the aisle on legislation aiming to improve outcomes for students in special education.
“As a parent of a child with dyslexia, I know how hard it can be to get your child the resources they need to meet their full potential,” Cassidy said recently in an interview with Rick Hess, an Education Week Opinion contributor.
“Unfortunately, many students are not screened for dyslexia until after they have already fallen behind, if at all. And, even after a parent finds out that their child has dyslexia, they may not be able to find or afford a school that provides the proper, tailored education.”
Cassidy authored legislation included in the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 to create a National Comprehensive Center on Improving Literacy for Student With Disabilities. The center provides technical help to states on improving reading and writing skills of students with learning differences, including dyslexia.
Cassidy kept a watchful eye over the center’s work.
In 2019, he sent a letter to then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos noting that a recent report released by the center included outdated or inaccurate information on dyslexia. For instance, the report claimed that 5% to 17% of the population is dyslexic. Cassidy noted more recent information from the same source pegged the percentage at 20%, or 1 in 5 people.
In 2016, Cassidy led a Senate hearing focused on mandatory dyslexia screening in schools, and how dyslexia can be particularly problematic for students from disadvantaged households.
In the years following the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Cassidy also worked with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on legislation to bolster early intervention programs for children showing signs of or at risk of developing mental illness.
He’s repeatedly introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at helping college students with learning differences get access to accommodations.
“Sen. Cassidy has a long history of supporting the disability community, especially through his leadership as a sponsor of the Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act,” said Lindsay Kubatzky, the director of policy and advocacy for the National Center for Learning Disabilities, in an email. “We hope he will use the rest of his time in office to get this piece of legislation across the finish line. We also urge him to use his power as the chairman of the Senate HELP Committee to hold this administration accountable and protect the Department of Education.”
