Education

The Miami Herald reports: Not the most normal sight: a gun left in the bathroom stall. But that’s exactly what went down on Sunday in a men’s room at the Deerfield Beach Pier. The circumstances of how the Glock 9mm got there are unusual. According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the weapon was left by Sean Simpson. If his name …

TMZ reports: David Hogg might soon be trading one sunshine state for another … because the Parkland leader’s been accepted to UC Irvine!!! The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior tells us he got an acceptance letter from the prestigious school last week … officially welcoming him to the Anteater family. The letter says, in part, “Students choose UCI to …

This is fantastic: Striking Oklahoma teachers jangled their keys and chanted “Where’s my car?” at their governor after she compared their demands to a “teenager wanting a better car.” Public schools in Oklahoma are closed this week as teachers strike for better pay and resources. On Tuesday, Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said the teachers striking for improved pay and benefits …

The Washington Post reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos asked her department’s Office of Inspector General if grounds existed to prosecute employees who leaked budget data to The Washington Post and unclassified information to Politico, according to an internal department report. The response: It would be challenging, because the department has “little” written policy or guidance on how employees are supposed …

CBS News reports: For the third day, thousands of Oklahoma teachers marched at the state capitol. Inside the rotunda, educators, and hundreds of their students demanded an increase in school funding. On Tuesday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a bill giving teacher-support staff, like teachers’ aides and janitors, a $1,250 raise. Last week, she signed a measure that gave teachers …

The Tulsa World reports: Thousands of Oklahoma teachers are descending on the Oklahoma Capitol on Monday in the first day of what could be an extended teacher walkout. Early Monday afternoon, Tulsa Public Schools and Broken Arrow Public Schools were among those announcing they would shut down again Tuesday in support of the teacher walkout. By 9:15 a.m., a continuous …

NPR reports: Linda Brown, who as a schoolgirl was at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that rejected racial segregation in American schools, died in Topeka, Kan., Sunday afternoon. She was 76. Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, involved several …

The Tennessean reports: A bill requiring Tennessee schools to prominently display the national “In God We Trust” motto is headed to the governor for his signature. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, overwhelmingly passed the state House on Monday with 81 of the 99 members voting in favor of it. Before the vote, the Republican lawmaker spoke …

The New York Post reports: The private school attended by Barron Trump, the president’s youngest son, is backing stricter gun control measures — but dismissing his father’s proposal to arm teachers. St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and more than 100 schools in Maryland and the Washington area signed an open letter calling on Trump and Congress to do more to stem …

NBC News reports: A teacher who also serves as a reserve police officer accidentally fired a gun inside a Seaside High School classroom Tuesday, police said, and three students were injured. Dennis Alexander was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class when his gun went off at 1:20 p.m. Alexander was pointing his gun at …

NBC’s Washington DC affiliate reports: A school resource officer accidentally fired his gun inside a middle school in Alexandria, Virginia, Tuesday morning, police say. No one was hurt. The officer was inside his office at George Washington Middle School in the Del Ray neighborhood when he accidentally discharged his service weapon about 9:10 a.m., according to Alexandria police. The officer, …

CNN reports: Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stumbled her way through a tense portion of her interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday night, struggling to answer some basic questions about schools in her home state of Michigan and admitting that she does not “intentionally” visit underperforming schools. “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl asked DeVos if in Michigan, students who …

The Washington Post reports: The White House on Sunday vowed to help provide “rigorous firearms training” to some schoolteachers and formally endorsed a bill to tighten the federal background checks system, but it backed off President Trump’s earlier call to raise the minimum age to purchase some guns to 21 years old from 18 years old. Responding directly to last …

The Hill reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos defended President Trump’s plan to arm some teachers to protect students from shootings in remarks on Wednesday after visiting the site of the Parkland, Fla. high school massacre. “Let’s be clear. I think to say ‘arming teachers’ is an oversimplification and a mischaracterization, really,” DeVos told reporters after meeting with students and faculty …

The Citrus County Chronicle reports: Crystal River Middle School social studies teacher Dayanna Volitich has been removed from the classroom as part of a Citrus County School District investigation following the revelation that she espoused racist views in a podcast and on social media under the alias Tiana Dalichov. Volitich has issued a statement: “None of the statements released about …

The Detroit News reports: This month marks the first full year that Michigan native Betsy DeVos has held her job as U.S. education secretary. Her opponents still can’t believe that she has the role. Just last week, leaders of the top teachers unions attempted to drop off 80,000 “report cards” for DeVos, in a publicity stunt. No surprise — she …

Bustle reports: On Tuesday, Democratic Mississippi Rep. Credell Calhoun introduced a bill that would impose strict religious requirements on teachers in the state’s public schools. Among other proposed rules, House Bill 1100 would mandate that Mississippi educators read the Ten Commandments every day in the first hour of class. In addition to reciting the Ten Commandments at the top of …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration is further delaying Obama-era protections for students defrauded by for-profit colleges, saying it needs more time to write new regulations. Tuesday’s announcement renewed criticism by Democrats and advocacy groups that the administration favors the interests of for-profit universities over students. The Education Department posted a notice in the Federal Register saying it wants …

The Washington Post reports: The Education Department has rescinded 72 policy documents that outline the rights of students with disabilities as part of the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate regulations it deems superfluous. The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services wrote in a newsletter Friday that it had “a total of 72 guidance documents that have been rescinded due …

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports: A predominately black public school in Mississippi named after Jefferson Davis will have its Confederate tied namesake stripped next year and replaced with the title of another president whose character students, parents and teachers have said is more fitting— Barack Obama. Davis Magnet IB PTA President Janelle Jefferson announced at the Jackson Public Schools Board of …