Education

New York City To End Remote Learning For Fall Term

The New York Times reports: New York City will no longer have a remote schooling option come fall, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced during a television appearance on Monday, a major step toward fully reopening the nation’s largest school system. This school year, most of the city’s roughly one million students — about 600,000 — stayed at home for classes. …

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Judge Orders DeVos To Testify In Student Loans Lawsuit

NBC News reports: Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos must testify in a class-action lawsuit about her handling of student loan forgiveness claims, which involved delays in the administration’s decision-making and ultimate denial of a significant number of the applications, a federal judge ruled. In a 12-page ruling, Judge William Alsup denied a motion to quash a subpoena for the Cabinet …

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AL Ends 28-Year Ban On Yoga In Schools But Parents Must Sign Permission Slip On Its Roots In Hinduism

The Birmingham News reports: Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill allowing Alabama public schools to offer instruction in yoga. The law ends a ban on yoga adopted by the State Board of Education in 1993 because of yoga’s connections to Hinduism. The Senate amended the bill to say that “School personnel may not use any techniques that …

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Cuomo: Mandatory Vax For Public College Students

The Albany Times Union reports: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday that State University of New York campuses will require COVID-19 vaccinations for students starting in the fall semester. The policy will also apply to the City University of New York, and Cuomo said he would encourage private colleges to adopt it as well. It starts by September, and if …

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Florida Homecoming Queen Hackers To Face 16 Years

Law & Crime reports: A Florida teenager and her mother stand accused of rigging a homecoming election last fall. Both will be prosecuted as adults, local prosecutors told the media on Tuesday. Emily Rose Grover, 18, was still a minor when she and her mother, Laura Rose Carroll, 50, allegedly hacked into the Escambia County School District’s internal computer system …

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NJ School Nurse Suspended For Defying Mask Rules

The New Jersey Advance reports: She’s a school nurse who claims face masks are dangerous to kids and do nothing to stop the spread of COVID. After refusing to wear a mask herself, Erin Pein said she was suspended from her job in the Stafford Township school district. Now her supporters are planning a rally and her cause has become …

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Biden: Schools Will “Probably” Be Fully Open By Fall

The Hill reports: President Biden in an interview that aired Friday said that schools should all be open for five days a week in-person learning in the fall despite the fact that children likely will not be vaccinated by then. “Based on the science and the CDC, they should probably all be open,” Biden said in an interview that aired …

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Alabama Axes Anti-LGBT Language From Sex Education

MetroWeekly reports: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has signed a bill into law reforming the state’s sex education standards, removing anti-LGBTQ language that previously required teachers to condemn homosexuality and portray it in a negative light. It removes the requirement that teachers must tell students that homosexuality is “not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public” and that “homosexual conduct …

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CT Ends Religious Exemptions For School Vaccines

The Hartford Courant reports: Gov. Ned Lamont Wednesday signed legislation that would end Connecticut’s religious exemption for mandatory school vaccinations beginning in the 2022 school year. “When it comes to the safety of our children, we need to take an abundance of caution,” Lamont said, in a written statement. “This legislation is needed to protect our kids against serious illnesses …

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AR Senate Committee Kills Creationism In Schools Bill

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: A bill stating that Arkansas teachers may teach religious beliefs of creation alongside scientific theories failed to advance from the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. The sponsor, Rep. Mary Bentley [photo], R-Perryville, said many teachers had asked her for the ability to teach “counter-theories” and open up the class for debate among students. Six of the …

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AZ Gov Vetoes Hate Group’s Anti-LGBT Education Bill

The Arizona Republic reports: Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a controversial sex education bill but issued an executive order requiring public notice of any such curriculum before it can be used in Arizona classrooms. The dual actions appeared to be a compromise between the provisions of Senate Bill 1456 and critics who said it would marginalize LGBTQ children by, among other …

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ND Allows Ten Commandments In Public Classrooms

The Grand Forks Herald reports: Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation Friday, April 16, authorizing North Dakota public schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The bill cleared the House and Senate by wide margins earlier this session after lawmakers included provisions to gird against possible lawsuits, including one portion requiring that displays of the Judeo-Christian text appear alongside other …

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Students Celebrate School’s Newest US Citizen [VIDEO]

Oklahoma City’s ABC News affiliate reports: It was lunchtime at Prairie Vale Elementary School when cafeteria manager Yanet Vilamontes Lopez and her team were preparing chicken nuggets for the young students. An immigrant from Cuba, Lopez moved to Oklahoma from Houston a few years ago with her family for better job opportunities. It was a dream that was fulfilled Monday. …

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POLL: 90% Of College Students Say They Want Vaccine

Axios reports: Nearly 90% of college students say they probably or absolutely will get vaccinated, according to a Beat The Virus poll exclusive to Axios. Why it matters: College students have contributed to the nationwide spread of the virus, and their vaccination is necessary in bringing the pandemic under control before variants spread any further. More than 120,000 cases of …

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Florida Parents Raffle Assault Rifle For HS Graduation

Orlando’s NBC News affiliate reports: The raffling of an assault rifle to raise money for a Central Florida high school’s graduation event is raising concern from some people and support from others. Flyers for the raffle have been spread on campus and made their way online. Brevard County School District officials said a message was sent home to parents to …

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Tennessee Bill Would Ban Textbooks With LGBT Content

Knoxville’s NBC News affiliate reports: A bill in the Tennessee legislature would prohibit the state from approving textbooks and instructional materials that contain LGBTQ+ content. The bill, H.B. 0800, was introduced by Representative Bruce Griffey [photo] and will be considered by the Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 30. It says that public schools should focus on teaching subjects like reading, …

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Rutgers Is First University To Require Vax For Students

Via press release from Rutgers University: Rutgers University will require the COVID-19 vaccine for students who are enrolled for the 2021 fall semester. Assurances from the federal government that vaccines will be available for all Americans by the end of May and assessments by public health experts prompted university leaders to adjust the vaccine requirements for the fall semester. “We …

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Students Ripped Off By Schools To Have Loans Erased

The Associated Press reports: Thousands of students defrauded by for-profit schools will have their federal loans fully erased, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy that had given them only partial relief. The change could lead to $1 billion in loans being canceled for 72,000 borrowers, all of whom attended for-profit schools, the Education Department said. “Borrowers …

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Former NJ Teacher To Get $325,000 Settlement After Death Threats Over Edited HS School Yearbook Photo

The New Jersey Advance reports: A former New Jersey teacher who alleged her bosses conspired to blame her for editing a Donald Trump T-shirt out of the school yearbook will receive a $325,000 settlement from the district. Susan Parsons, who has since retired from the Wall Township School District, sued the school system in 2019 saying she was scapegoated and …

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FL Republicans Seek To Ban Salaries For School Boards

Florida Politics reports: Rep. Sam Garrison wants to put the salary of school board members on the ballot in the next General Election, turning the elected positions from paid to volunteer. On Friday at the the House Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee meeting, members voted along party lines to move forward with a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 1461) that …

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