Education

The New York Times reports: The leaders of two of the nation’s largest and most influential labor unions have quit their posts in the Democratic National Committee in a major rebuke to the party’s new chairman, Ken Martin. Randi Weingarten, the longtime leader of the American Federation of Teachers and a major voice in Democratic politics, and Lee Saunders, the …

Courthouse News reports: President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court for help dismantling the Department of Education on Friday, pushing the justices to keep nearly 1,400 employees off the government’s payroll despite an unresolved legal dispute. Trump slashed the department’s staff by half in March, spurring a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James and 20 other states’ attorneys …

The Tennessean reports: Morgan Armstrong, a graduating senior at Tennessee Christian Preparatory School, posted photos on social media of her girlfriend and herself in late April. Days later, the private Cleveland, Tennessee school suspended her for the rest of the school year, banned her from campus and campus events, including her final exams and high school graduation, and terminated Armstrong’s …

The Ohio Capital Journal reports: Kent State University is closing its LGBTQ+ Center, Women’s Center and Student Multicultural Center because of a new state law banning diversity efforts that is set to take effect at the end of the month. Kent State’s LBGTQ+ Living-Learning Community will cease to exist because of Senate Bill 1 going into effect, according to a …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to shut down the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out two plans announced in March that sought to …

Bloomberg Law reports: The US Supreme Court divided evenly in a major case over the separation of religion and government, thwarting an effort in Oklahoma to create the nation’s first faith-based charter school. The 4-4 split doesn’t set a nationwide precedent, and it leaves open the question of whether states with taxpayer-funded charter school programs are constitutionally required to incorporate …

Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate reports: Superintendent Ryan Walters called the media late Thursday for a Friday morning press conference after lawmakers rejected several of his budget requests. The agreed-upon budget from lawmakers this week had the Oklahoma State Department of Education realize they wouldn’t get $3 million for “Bibles in every classroom” and $500,000 for concealed carry training, among other …

NBC News reports: A case that could weaken the separation of church and state goes before the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices consider whether Oklahoma can approve the first-ever religious public charter school. Although the oral argument concerns only St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would operate online throughout the state with a remit to promote …

Scripps News reports: A coalition of parents and education providers have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over its proposed cuts to the federally-funded Head Start program providing free services to hundreds of thousands of children from low-income families. The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Washington, accuses the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of …

Via press release from the White House: Today, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the New York Department of Education, Board of Regents for a reported violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will assess whether New York’s threat to withhold funding if the Massapequa School District does not …

Politico reports: The lawsuit, led by California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York, argues that an ultimatum delivered by the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month to comply with the Trump administration’s interpretation of federal anti-discrimination law was unconstitutional and unlawful. Under the directive, states are required to certify their schools will adhere to a 2023 Supreme Court ruling …

Reuters reports: The Trump Administration said in an executive order on Wednesday that it is considering revoking the American Bar Association’s status as the federally recognized accreditor of law schools, a change that could impact lawyer licensing, student loans and attorney mobility, legal education experts said. Trump said he was directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to assess whether to suspend …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Thursday blocked Trump administration directives that threatened to cut federal funding for public schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, which accused the Republican administration of violating teachers’ due process and First Amendment rights. …

The education site Chalkbeat reports: President Donald Trump signed executive orders Wednesday that aim to promote stricter school discipline and discourage schools from considering whether discipline policies have a greater impact on students of color. Under former President Barack Obama, the Education Department warned schools that policies that led to students of certain racial groups being suspended or expelled at …

The Indiana Capital Chronicle reports: A Republican senator detailed changes to a contentious sex education bill on Monday, including deletion of a proposed requirement for K-12 schools to teach about consent. The last-minute edits to Senate Bill 442 were announced during a 13-minute conference committee meeting. Public testimony was allowed but none was provided. Earlier versions of the legislation required …

NBC News reports: The U.S. Department of Education on Monday said it’s restarting “involuntary” repayment of federal student loans that are in default. The payments were paused during the first term of President Donald Trump in 2020 as a response to the Covid pandemic. “Beginning May 5, the department will begin involuntary collection through the Treasury Department’s offset program, which …

The Associated Press reports: Students and instructors will have the option of holding classes remotely or in person, depending on the class. The school has waived all mandatory attendance policies that could affect grades, so students won’t be punished if they choose not to go to class in person, FSU President Richard McCullough said in a letter to students and …

CNN reports: The Trump administration is considering eliminating funding for two key federal programs that help millions of low-income Americans educate their young children and heat their homes. A draft of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year calls for ending support for Head Start, which provides early childhood education and other services to nearly 800,000 kids, …

Reuters reports: More students living in the United States are applying to Canadian universities or expressing interest in studying north of the border as U.S. President Donald Trump cuts federal funding to universities and revokes foreign student visas. Officials at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus said the school reported a 27% jump in graduate applications as of March …

The Washington Post reports: Harvard University officials on Monday rejected Trump administration demands that the school yield to extensive government oversight and make sweeping changes to governance, admissions and hiring practices, calling the directives unlawful and unconstitutional. The administration responded Monday night by saying it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding to the Ivy League school. The …