Education

Axios reports: Former President Barack Obama on Monday denounced the spread of book bans across the country as “profoundly misguided.” Book bans have become a political flashpoint between conservatives and liberals, with several Republicans using them as a rallying cry ahead of the 2024 election. In a letter to the nation’s librarians, Obama praised them for being “on the front …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: The state will launch a formal investigation into Florida Atlantic University’s presidential search, rejecting the university’s request to end the matter quickly and increasing speculation that the ultimate goal is to place a political ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis into the role. The inspector general for the Board of Governors, the policy-making body for the state’s …

“Instead of allowing Biden and the unions to inject their ideology through graphic pornography like ‘Gender Queer’ and “Flamer,’ we want the Constitution, we want the bible in our schools where kids understand our nation’s history and what has made this country great. The reality is that the bible is a foundational document in our country’s history. Read the Founders, …

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Just days before the three finalists for Florida Atlantic University’s next president were set to speak at public forums, the search has been stopped in its tracks. State University System of Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sent a letter to Brad Levine, chairman of both the FAU Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee, citing …

The New Republic reports: Oklahoma’s far-right superintendent of public instruction thinks that schools should teach students about the Tulsa race massacre, so long as teachers don’t actually acknowledge that the white supremacist attack was about race. Walters held a public forum Thursday night, during which someone asked him how teaching about the Tulsa race massacre doesn’t violate his ban on …

The Hill reports: Harvard is facing a civil rights complaint over the school’s legacy admissions after the Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions practices. “Each year, Harvard College grants special preference in its admissions process to hundreds of mostly white students — not because of anything they have accomplished, but rather solely because of who their relatives are,” according to …

ABC News reports: On Thursday, the Supreme Court set new limits on affirmative action programs in cases involving whether public and private colleges and universities can continue to use race as one factor among many in student admissions. A little more than half of Americans – 52% — approve of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on restricting the use of …

NPR reports: At the heart of the question is the 2003 HEROES Act, which passed in the wake of 9/11 and gave the education secretary broad power to “modify or waive” provisions of student loan programs in times of emergency. The Biden administration argues that the COVID-19 pandemic constituted one such emergency. Conservative opponents of the plan, however, argue that …

Tulsa World reports: Faith advisers want State Superintendent Ryan Walters to “enforce” a daily full minute of silence in schools, mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom and add a Western Civilization course to high school graduation requirements. The recommendations echo Walters’ own headline-making campaign call in 2022 for every Oklahoma history teacher to be trained in …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is opening another legal battle against the federal government, this time over the power of private accreditation agencies over state universities. “In America you need to be accountable to somebody, and right now they’re accountable to nobody,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tampa. “We believe we have a great chance of succeeding …

Chalkbeat reports: Candidates endorsed by a polarizing group that advocates for screened school admissions won the majority of seats on about half a dozen parent councils this year, according to election results released Friday by the New York City education department. Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, or PLACE, endorsed 147 candidates across the city for local district council …

The Hill reports: The College Board released a letter Thursday putting its foot down on further demands from Florida to change any of its Advanced Placement (AP) classes, the latest development in the ongoing feud between the company and the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). “[College Board] will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level …

The Associated Press reports: The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to using marijuana while possessing a firearm, which is illegal under U.S. law. The federal crime is facing increasing scrutiny as more states legalize the drug. But federal prosecutors in Virginia said Monday that such laws protect communities. …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Los Angeles school board President Jackie Goldberg pulled out an oversized children’s book titled “The Great Big Book of Families” and turned a public meeting into story time, her own not-so-subtle statement to critics of LGBTQ+ education. “In real life, families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes,” she read, as the text by …

NPR reports: The ACLU of Indiana has filed a lawsuit to halt Indiana’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. Court documents said the act’s lack of definitions about “human sexuality” and “instruction” mean teachers don’t know what they can and can’t teach. If found in violation of HEA 1608, teachers could have their licenses suspended or revoked. The lawsuit was filed …

NBC News reports: A Texas school superintendent sent lewd photos to an undercover officer posing online as a 15-year-old girl he planned to meet with, authorities said. Michael Keith Stevens, 47, superintendent of the Itasca Independent School District, was arrested Thursday and accused of online solicitation of a minor, according to court records. “He sent pictures of his private parts …

Los Angeles’s ABC affiliate reports: “You’re not qualified! You’re not qualified!’ shouted one audience member at the board. The frustration was over the 3-2 vote opposing the adoption of new social studies curriculum for Temecula Valley Unified School District elementary schools. The decision could leave 11,397 students without a textbook next year. “We’ve never experienced this before. I’ve never heard …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Seminole County Public Schools is offering to reprint this year’s Lyman High School yearbook and remove two pages for parents upset about LGBTQ+ content, prompting criticism that the district isn’t standing up to bigotry. The pages highlight the school’s LGBTQ+ community and provide definitions of terms such as genderfluid and pansexual. A few parents and students …

Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate reports: Copies of the King James Bible are being removed from school library shelves at elementary and junior high facilities in Davis County, Utah, after a complaint that the scriptures feature material inappropriate for younger children. The complaint was filed by an unknown person in March after a statewide law passed in 2022 allowed residents …

The Associated Press reports: Federal courts have issued desegregation orders for 32 school districts in Mississippi, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s assistant attorney general said Thursday. The desegregation orders fit into a broader body of civil rights work launched in Mississippi that is examining jails, police departments and hate crimes in the state, according to Assistant Attorney …