Education

USA Today reports: Authorities have launched a manhunt for what they say is an armed and dangerous woman who made “credible threats” against Denver-area schools four days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Police said the woman, Sol Pais, 18, is “infatuated” with the Columbine shooting. They said she traveled from Miami to Colorado on Monday night, …

The Springfield News-Leader reports: Early Friday, as a group of Kickapoo High students prepared to mark the national Day of Silence — to raise awareness about the bullying and intimidation of LGBTQ students —a few students drove through the parking lot, waving flags. A district spokesman said “three or four” students were circling through the parking lots of the high …

ABC News reports: A controversial 28-year-old Arizona law that bars HIV and AIDS instruction that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle” was swiftly done away with this week. The Arizona Legislature quickly voted on Wednesday and Thursday to advance Senate Bill 1346, which contains an amendment to repeal the provisions concerning homosexuality. Gov. Doug Ducey signed it minutes after the state Senate …

Josh Israel reports at Think Progress: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will testify before Congress on Wednesday about her priorities for the department, weeks after she proposed billions of dollars in cuts for education spending in fiscal year 2020. DeVos has labeled the cuts “tough choices,” but new analysis from the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) shows DeVos’ personal …

The New York Post reports: Lori Loughlin and her husband were indicted Tuesday for participating in the college admissions scam — and hit with new charges, prosecutors announced. A federal grand jury in Boston handed up the indictment against the “Full House” star, hubby Mossimo Giannulli and 14 other parents on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud …

Reuters reports: Actress Felicity Huffman and 13 other people have agreed to plead guilty to participating in what prosecutors call the largest college admissions scam uncovered in U.S. history, federal prosecutors said on Monday. The 14 are among 50 people accused by federal prosecutors in Boston of engaging in schemes that involved cheating on college entrance exams and paying $25 …

The Houston Chronicle reports: A Goose Creek CISD teacher’s apparent classroom mishap put her on the receiving end of threatening calls, including death threats, district officials said. The teacher, who was not identified, gave her 7th grade students an assignment where they read 10 student-written essays and determined what each essay inferred, hoping to increase the students’ critical-thinking skills. One …

The Arizona Republic reports: Two gay-rights organizations are suing Arizona over its so-called “No Promo Homo” law, which bans public district and charter school HIV/AIDS instruction that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle.” The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court on behalf of Equality Arizona, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBT residents. An …

The Associated Press reports: Missouri House lawmakers have passed legislation to allow public schools to offer elective social studies classes on the Bible. The Republican-led House voted 95-52 to pass the bill Tuesday. “There’s a lot of misconceptions when it comes to separation of church and state. There’s several Supreme Court cases that have upheld similar types of things because …

USA Today reports: A federal judge today denied issuing a temporary injunction that would have allowed 44 unvaccinated children to go back to class at the Green Meadow Waldorf School, citing Rockland County’s “unprecedented measles outbreak.” “The plaintiffs have not demonstrated that public interest weighs in favor of granting an injunction,” U.S. District Court Judge Vincent Briccetti said in federal …

NBC News reports: The ringleader behind a $25 million college admission scam that implicated dozens of people, including Hollywood actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, said he has worked with more than 750 families. William Rick Singer, who pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Boston federal court to racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges, said in a phone …

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department on Tuesday charged more than 30 people — including two television stars — with being part of a long-running scheme to bribe and cheat to get their kids into big-name colleges and universities. The crimes, according to officials, involved cheating on entrance exams, as well as bribing college officials to say certain students …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: There’s a new push to allow North Carolina teachers to carry guns in school that some state lawmakers think has a chance of being approved this year. The School Security Act of 2019 would boost the salaries of teachers who underwent specialized police training to carry firearms on campus. The same bill was filed …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: A bill that would require Florida public high schools to offer an elective course on the Old Testament and New Testament began moving through the Florida House on Wednesday, but not without significant concerns raised about its possible unconstitutionality. Bill sponsor Rep. Kim Daniels [photo], a Jacksonville Democrat who last year passed legislation requiring schools …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A state lawmaker who is a minister and dean of students at a southwest Missouri religious college wants public high school students to learn more about the Bible.  Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, is sponsoring a proposal that would allow school boards in the state to offer a high school elective course on the Old Testament …

NBC News reports: A sixth grader in Florida was arrested after his refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance escalated into a confrontation with police and school officials, authorities said. The unnamed boy was charged with disrupting a school function and resisting an officer without violence on Feb. 4, the Lakeland Police Department said in a news release. A …

The Washington Post reports: Children of same-sex couples perform better in school than kids raised by a mom and a dad, according to new research from several European economists. The researchers found that children raised by same-sex couples had higher test scores in elementary and secondary school and were about 7 percent more likely to graduate from high school than …

The Associated Press reports: President Jair Bolsonaro is taking his anti-leftist ideological war to Brazil’s classrooms and universities, causing angst among teachers and education officials who say the government wants to fight an enemy that doesn’t exist. Bolsonaro and top officials have announced plans to revise textbooks to excise references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women, say the military …

The Tucson Star reports: The state’s new schools chief is calling on lawmakers to repeal a law that prohibits any courses on AIDS and HIV from portraying homosexuality “as a positive alternative lifestyle.” In her first-ever State of Education speech, Kathy Hoffman told members of the House Education Committee on Monday the system needs to support the emotional well-being of …

Via press release: Today, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law requiring Boards of Education to include instruction, and adopt instructional materials, that accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. This law would require that LGBTQ Americans, as well as Americans with disabilities, are included and recognized for …