Adams, Thompson relaunch e-Learning Caucus

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2023) – U.S. Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) announced the relaunching of the bipartisan e-Learning Caucus.

The nation has emerged from a challenging time when nearly every American had some experience with eLearning. Accordingly, the eLearning Caucus will be a vehicle for Congress to examine successes and failures in eLearning so that federal education funds are used prudently. Members of Congress interested in these issues should have a forum to come together to take a hard look at lessons learned from the pandemic and from exceptional institutions and delivery partners from across the country.

In 2022, 75 percent of undergraduates took at least one course online, a rate that has more than doubled since 2012. The eLearning Caucus was originally created in 2011 by former Representatives and current Governors Jared Polis (D-CO) and Kristi Noem (R-SD). It will again provide a forum for members of Congress to learn more about online learning best practices and to discuss building resilient 21st century schools and institutions so that we minimize learning loss in future crises.

The Caucus will evaluate how online learning can be deployed to meet the demand for rapidly changing skills and help ensure proper oversight and accountability. The rapid advance of technology like generative AI and large language models creates urgency in bringing together education stakeholders from all areas of eLearning ecosystem, specifically including from HBCUs and from career and technical schools.

“We have reached a defining moment, and it’s time to apply the lessons we’ve learned to strengthen the nation’s education system,” said Congresswoman Adams. “The eLearning Caucus will be a bipartisan effort to ensure we objectively evaluate those lessons to construct a foundation upon which the next chapter of America’s education system can be built.”

“Across the country, high quality jobs are going unfilled as employers struggle to find workers with the right skills,” said Congressman Thompson. “Relaunching the Congressional eLearning Caucus is an opportunity to identify innovative ways online learning can address the skills employers need and provide greater flexibility for Americans to climb the ladder of opportunity.”

Congresswoman Alma Adams represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County). She is a senior member on the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she serves as ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee; and on the House Agriculture Committee. In 2015, she founded the first bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus in Congress. She is a double graduate of North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU by enrollment in the United States.

Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District. As Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and a senior member of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, GT is in a unique position to bring his expertise and knowledge to bear on the issues facing rural businesses, communities, and families, in order to improve the lives of the citizens of the Fifteenth District. He is a graduate of Penn State and Temple Universities.

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