Education

DeSantis Demands “Woke” Data From FL Universities

ABC News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office has requested data on courses and programs that include “diversity, equity and inclusion” and “critical race theory” despite legal challenges to his law restricting such content. In the memo, Office of Policy and Budget Director Chris Spencer asked State University System and Florida College System administrators to document “the expenditure of state …

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FL “Don’t Say Gay” Advocate To Lead Arkansas Schools

The Associated Press reports: Incoming Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday named a top Florida schools official as her pick to lead the state’s education agency, the latest signal of the direction of the Republican’s nascent administration. Sanders tapped Jacob Oliva, a senior chancellor at the Florida Department of Education, to serve as secretary of the Arkansas Department of …

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Feds Launch First-Ever Probe Into Texas School District Over Secret Order To Remove LGBTQ-Themed Books

The Texas Tribune reports: The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books. Education and legal experts say the federal probe of the Granbury Independent School District — which stemmed from a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union …

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Only 7 Veterans Hired As Teachers Under FL Program

Military.com reports: Six months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state’s veteran to teacher certification pathway into law, only a handful of veterans have been approved for certification across all 70-plus school districts, Military.com has learned. When the school year started in 2022, there were more than 5,000 teacher openings in the state, and the June law was intended …

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FL Finds All Schools Now “Don’t Say Gay” Compliant

Florida Politics reports: A law that more tightly restricts public schools’ approach to gender identity and sexual orientation has caused school districts to pull LGBTQ support guides and restrict some students’ use of bathrooms and locker rooms to gender assigned at birth. Those are some of the changes presented to the State Board of Education Wednesday as the Board heard …

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Schools Are Forcing Poor Students Into ROTC Classes

The New York Times reports: J.R.O.T.C. programs, taught by military veterans at some 3,500 high schools across the country, are supposed to be elective, and the Pentagon has said that requiring students to take them goes against its guidelines. But The New York Times found that thousands of public school students were being funneled into the classes without ever having …

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FL Accuses School Districts Of Defying “Don’t Say Gay”

The Miami Herald reports: Florida’s State Board of Education will meet next week to scrutinize whether 10 school districts — including Miami-Dade, Broward and Hillsborough counties — are carrying out the state’s parental rights law. The state put the districts on notice last month when it sent letters detailing the policies that each of their districts “may not comport with …

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FL Sheriff Unveils New Severe Student Discipline Policy

Orlando’s ABC affiliate reports: Days after the Brevard County School Board ousted the superintendent, plans are underway for a new school disciplinary policy in Brevard Public Schools. Flanked by Sheriff Wayne Ivey and State Attorney Phil Archer, School Board Chairman Matt Susin went on camera Monday in front of the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes to announce plans to impose …

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Florida School Boards Have Begun Ousting Educators

Politico reports: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis put his weight behind dozens of conservative school board candidates across Florida during the midterms. Now they’re in office — and are purging some educational leaders who enforced Covid-19 mandates. New board members in two GOP-leaning counties essentially sacked their school superintendents over the span of one week. The ousters were spurred by how …

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Court Halts Florida’s “Stop Woke Act” For Universities

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A lawsuit filed by a professor and student at the University of South Florida, contesting the state’s “Stop WOKE Act,” officially titled the “Individual Freedom Act,” has temporarily blocked the law’s impact on public universities, thanks to an order from a federal judge. House Bill 7, dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” when first announced by Gov. …

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Youngkin Under Fire For New History Lessons Standards

Richmond’s ABC affiliate reports: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is overhauling former Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration’s proposal that would have set history and social science standards in Virginia schools. Youngkin’s VDOE’s new draft proposal would determine what students learn about American history and Virginia history inside the classroom. If adopted by the Virginia Board of Education, …

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Teacher Fired After Telling Students Whites Are Superior

NBC News reports: A middle school teacher in Texas has been fired after a video posted on social media showed him telling students his race is “superior.” “Deep down in my heart, I’m ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one,” the teacher was recorded telling students of various races last week inside a classroom at Bohls …

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Texas Federal Judge Blocks Student Debt Relief Plan

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge in North Texas ruled on Thursday that President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is “unlawful,” the latest challenge to the policy that has seen several attacks from conservative groups. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman said in court files that he declared the loan forgiveness plan unlawful because Biden did not follow federal …

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Emails Released From VA Gov’s Teacher Snitch Line

Axios reports: Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s controversial school tip line drew complaints from around the state about pandemic precautions, a symbolic “equity month” and, in one case, a 12th grade English teacher’s take on poetry. Youngkin created a national uproar just days into his administration when he launched the tip line, urging parents to report schools teaching “inherently divisive concepts” — …

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Trustees Confirm GOP Sen. Ben Sasse As UF President

The Gainesville Sun reports: It’s official: U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse was approved Tuesday as the next University of Florida president, after receiving praise from trustees but criticism from students. The 13-member UF board of trustees unanimously approved hiring Sasse, R-Neb., for the job after interviewing him about his academic views and past political positions. Some of the dozen people who …

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UF Faculty Senate: No Confidence In Sasse As President

The Gainesville Sun reports: The University of Florida’s Faculty Senate approved a no-confidence vote Thursday on the selection process that led to U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse being named as the sole finalist to be the next UF president. The Senate held an emergency meeting on the resolution, which focused on a search committee’s decision to name him as the only …

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Florida Man Cites “Don’t Say Gay” Law In Lawsuit Over Pride Flag In Classroom: This Is Against Jesus [VIDEO]

West Palm Beach’s NBC affiliate reports: A Wellington father is suing the School District of Palm Beach County after he claimed his son’s teacher put up two LGBTQ pride flags in her classroom. Dr. Francisco Deliu’s 12-year-old son is in seventh grade at Emerald Cove Middle School. Deliu filed a lawsuit on Oct. 12 against the school district, Palm Beach …

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At Least Three Dead In St. Louis School Shooting

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: At least three people were killed, including the suspect, and six others injured after a shooting Monday morning at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis. A woman died at a hospital, and a teen girl was pronounced dead inside the school, both of gunshot wounds. Injuries ranged from gunshot wounds …

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Republican AGs Win Stay On Student Debt Relief Plan

The New York Times reports: A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily halted President Biden’s student debt relief plan, preventing the government from moving forward with the debt cancellation it had said could start as early as next week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit granted a stay in response to an appeal filed by six Republican-led …

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Diwali To Be NYC Public School Holiday Starting In 2023

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: Diwali will be a New York City public school holiday starting next year in 2023. Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks announced Thursday the school calendar was moved around to make room for the important holiday for many religions. Officials eliminated “Anniversary Day” as a holiday, allowing the school system to add …

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