Tag Archives: education

Charleston’s CBS News affiliate reports: South Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would require “instruction in United States foundational history” for all public middle and high school students in a way that is consistent with former President Donald Trump’s 1776 Commission Report, and it already has approval from the state’s top education leader. The Restore America’s Foundation Act, S.534, …

The Associated Press reports: A proposal in North Dakota to shield schools and teachers from lawsuits arising from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms is unconstitutional and would spur costly and unwinnable legal fights, attorneys and education officials told state lawmakers Wednesday. Despite the cautionary advice, the House Judiciary Committee gave the legislation an 11-3 “do-pass” recommendation, hoping that a …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

NBC New York reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that New York City’s public high schools will reopen for in-person instruction on Monday, March 22, while high-risk sports return citywide in mid-April — the latest signs of sustained progress as the vaccine rollout kicks into an ever-higher gear. Core COVID precautions like masks and social distancing apply to both …

USA Today reports: The Senate confirmed Miguel Cardona as President Joe Biden’s education secretary Monday. Cardona, confirmed in a 64-33 vote, will oversee an Education Department that employs thousands and has an annual budget of more than $60 billion. He would also oversee the agency’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio. He takes the helm of American schooling at a fraught …

The Detroit Free Press reports: A Ferris State University professor has been fired after posting racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic comments on Twitter. Physical sciences professor Thomas Brennan announced the firing on Twitter Saturday His posts included the N-word regarding Neil deGrasse Tyson, a homophobic slur, COVID-19 denial, and comments about a “Jewish mafia” and COVID-19 being a “(J)ewish revolution,” according …

Crooks & Liars reports: Dagen McDowell suddenly cares about kids getting school lunches, and she was there to bash the teachers’ union for that, because Fox News really loves to blame teachers’ unions for everything. Who does she think has been taking care of those needy students during this pandemic, anyway? TEACHERS have made sure those kids get lunch. You …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Federal health and education officials urged the nation’s elementary and secondary schools on Friday to reopen safely as soon as possible, saying they can operate by strictly adhering to safety precautions to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission in classrooms and in their communities. In new guidelines for schools, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control …

The Bismarck Tribune reports: Schools would be permitted to post the Ten Commandments under a bill that sailed through the North Dakota Senate on Wednesday but also encountered questions of constitutionality. Senate Bill 2308 was approved 34-13. Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, brought the bill, which would allow schools to post the Ten Commandments, permit students to recite the Pledge of …

Politico reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged career employees at the Education Department on Tuesday to “be the resistance” when the Biden administration comes into power next month. During a department-wide virtual meeting to discuss the shift to the new administration, DeVos acknowledged that most of the agency’s thousands of career employees “will be here through the coming transition and …

The New York Daily News reports: In what could prove to be the most controversial statement of his tenure, Mayor de Blasio declared Tuesday that snow days for New York City school kids are a thing of the past. Students taking in-person classes can blame that cold, cold new reality on remote learning, which has become necessary and almost universal …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up an appeal from parents in Oregon who want to prevent transgender students from using locker rooms and bathrooms of the gender with which they identify, rather than their sex assigned at birth. The case came from a school district near Salem, Oregon’s capital city. The federal appeals court …

The Associated Press reports: In a veiled swing at President-elect Joe Biden’s education plans, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday blasted the push for free college as a “socialist takeover of higher education” that could damage the nation’s economy. Speaking at an online conference hosted by the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office, DeVos did not mention Biden by name. …

The New York Daily News reports: Kids, grab your backpacks. Again. New York City schools are set to reopen in stages starting Dec. 7, Mayor de Blasio said Sunday. The announcement came as coronavirus is expected to keep surging in the city. De Blasio said he was ditching his previous approach to schools, under which they could only be open …

Gothamist reports: As parents wait to hear from the city and state over when public schools will reopen amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a mea culpa at a news conference on Wednesday, admitting he should have crafted a reopening redux plan before shutting down the entire school system last week. De Blasio said he …

The New York Times reports: New York City’s entire public school system will shutter on Thursday, Chancellor Richard A. Carranza wrote in an email to school principals, in a worrisome signal that a second wave of the coronavirus has arrived. Schools have been open for in-person instruction for just under eight weeks. The shutdown — which was prompted by the …