Tag Archives: education

The Indianapolis Star reports: Dozens of graduates and faculty at Taylor University walked out of graduation exercises Saturday morning minutes before the introduction of Vice President Mike Pence, who delivered the Christian liberal arts school’s commencement address. In caps and gowns, the students and faculty rose and quietly walked down the aisle and out of the auditorium in the Kesler …

CBS News reports: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled his education policy plan on Saturday — a comprehensive 10-point agenda that calls for the end of for-profit charter schools, creates a salary floor for public school teachers, guarantees free school meals for all students and expands after school and summer school programs. The 2020 hopeful’s policy proposal adds to the already …

NBC News reports: Actress Felicity Huffman tearfully pleaded guilty to federal charges Monday, admitting that she paid a fixer thousands of dollars to boost her daughter’s college admission hopes. Prosecutors said Huffman, 56, shelled out $15,000 to have wrong answers corrected on daughter Sofia Grace Macy’s SAT exam, leading to a remarkably improved score from the teen’s PSAT performance, prosecutors …

Politico reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday accused many in the media of using her name as “clickbait,” telling an audience of journalists that “education is not about Betsy DeVos nor any other individual.” DeVos, speaking at the National Education Writers Association conference in Baltimore, acknowledged she’s not comfortable in the spotlight and never imagined she’d be the focus …

Reuters reports: Florida’s legislature on Wednesday passed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns in the classroom, expanding a program launched after the deadly high school shooting in Parkland with the aim of preventing another such massacre. Florida’s House of Representatives voted 65 to 47 to pass the bill after hours of debate over two days in which the Republican …

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 Sacramento Bee reports: More than 200 protesters rallied Thursday outside of the state Capitol to protest the state’s push for comprehensive sex education and lessons on gender fluidity in California public schools. The rally, organized by Informed Parents of California, called for a rejection of California Board of Education’s proposed Health Education Framework, which they said teaches students too …

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 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 …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration has again proposed the elimination of federal funding for the arts and humanities, public television and radio, libraries and museums. For the third time in as many years, the White House has proposed a federal budget that would shutter the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation …

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 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 Kansas City Star reports: A Prairie Village Roman Catholic grade school this year denied enrollment to a kindergartner who is the child of a same-sex couple. Now almost 1,000 people have signed a petition asking church leaders to reconsider. The petition over St. Ann Catholic School on Mission Road is addressed to Archbishop Joseph Naumann [photo] and school Superintendent …

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 …