Tag Archives: education

Lawsuit: Top Colleges Colluded To Limit Financial Aid

The Wall Street Journal reports: Sixteen major U.S. universities, including Yale University, Georgetown University and Northwestern University, are being sued for alleged antitrust violations because of the way they work together to determine financial-aid awards for students. According to a lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court late Sunday by law firms representing five former students who attended some of the …

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State Senator: Teachers Should Be Impartial On Nazis

The Indianapolis Star reports: During a committee hearing Wednesday about Senate Bill 167, a wide-ranging bill inspired by the national discourse over critical race theory, history teacher Matt Bockenfeld raised concerns about what the bill would require of teachers. “For example, it’s the second semester of U.S. history, so we’re learning about the rise of fascism and the rise of …

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Chicago Schools Close After Teachers Refuse To Work

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Chicago Public Schools classes are canceled Wednesday as the Chicago Teachers Union voted to refuse in-person work, defying district plans because of post-holidays COVID-19 concerns. The cancellation came despite a last-minute proposal from city leaders that introduced improved testing and safety measures but wasn’t enough to avoid upending in-person schooling for about 290,000 students at non-charter …

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Court Rejects Challenge To NV School Mask Mandate

The Hill reports: A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit from two Nevada parents seeking to challenge the state’s public school mask mandate, saying in her ruling that parents did not have the constitutional right to dictate school policies. In their lawsuit filed in August, two Nevada parents claimed that the mask mandate, as well as their exclusion from …

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White House Extends Pause On Student Loan Payments

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration announced Wednesday it will extend a pause on student loan payments through May 1 as the omicron variant threatens to hurt the U.S. economy. President Biden depicted the move as an essential step to help millions of borrowers at a moment of ongoing public health challenges. Until now, the payment moratorium had been …

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LA School Board Fires 496 Unvaccinated Workers

The Associated Press reports: Nearly 500 Los Angeles Unified School District employees were fired this week for refusing to comply with a mandate that they get vaccinated against COVID-19, while some 34,000 students have not yet been vaccinated as required. The school board voted 7-0 in separate motions on Tuesday to terminate 496 employees, who make up less than 1% …

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SCOTUS May Force Public Funding Of Religious Schools

New York Magazine reports: The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a case involving just 4,800 students in rural Maine. But because of the way the Court seems certain to rule, the case will affect everyone in America. The reason is a single word: discrimination. At one point, Justice Kavanaugh said that “discrimination against all religions, as opposed to secular, is …

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CA Parents Knowingly Sent COVID+ Child To School

The Associated Press reports: Northern California parents knowingly sent their COVID-19 positive child and a sibling to school last month in violation of isolation and quarantine rules, causing a coronavirus outbreak in an elementary school, officials said Saturday. The parents could face a fine or a misdemeanor charge for violating Marin County’s health order, under which people who test positive …

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Library Association Battles Attempts To Ban LGBT Books

CNN reports: The American Library Association says it has provided legal guidance and support to a number of libraries impacted by the “dramatic uptick” of attempts to remove books concerning LGBTQ issues and people of color. Since June 1, the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has tracked 155 incidents across the country and has provided support and consultation in 120 …

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Study: Gay Men Have Highest Rate Of College Degrees

Issues In Higher Education reports: According to Dr. Joel Mittleman, an assistant professor of sociology at Notre Dame and author of the study, 52% of gay men in the U.S. have a bachelor’s degree, a total of 16 percentage points higher than the national average. Putting that number into a global perspective, Mittleman writes, “If America’s gay men were considered …

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Court Overturns TX Ban On School Mask Mandates

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge ruled late Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting mask mandates in schools violates the Americans with Disabilities Act — freeing local officials to again create their own rules. The order comes after a monthslong legal dispute between parents, a disability rights organization and Texas officials over whether the state was violating …

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Arizona Supreme Court: School Mask Ban Was Illegal

Phoenix’s ABC News affiliate reports: The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld a lower court judgment that found the Republican-controlled Legislature violated the state constitution by including new laws banning school mask mandates and a series of other measures in unrelated budget bills. The swift ruling from the state’s high court came less than two hours after the seven …

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LA School District Begins Firing Anti-Vax Employees

The Los Angeles Times reports: The Los Angeles Unified School District was among the first school systems in the nation to require employees to be vaccinated. The Oct. 15 deadline prompted a last-minute surge among thousands who were hesitant. No vaccine meant no entry onto a campus — and likely no job. Similar vaccination deadlines — and decisions — are …

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Pastor Forces School To Cancel Play With Gay Character

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: The fall play at a high school in southwest Ohio was canceled suddenly, reportedly because of concerns that a character in the play was gay. Students at Hillsboro High School still were in rehearsals for “She Kills Monsters,” which was scheduled to open in less than a month at the school’s new auditorium, WCPO Channel …

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VT High School Holds Halftime Drag Pageant [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: A Vermont high school homecoming football game turned into a “drag ball” runway at halftime, with a mix of students and faculty members parading in gowns, wigs and makeup — and a big crowd in rainbow colors to cheer them on. “Things went amazing,” Ezra Totten, student leader of the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Burlington High …

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Florida Withholds Paychecks Of County School Board

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran withheld the salaries of all Leon County School Board members Friday, even though the district walked back its COVID-induced mask rule this week. In a letter to the district, Corcoran said that even though parents have the ultimate authority on whether their child wears a mask to school under the new …

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Texas School District: Our Bad, There Actually Aren’t Two Sides When It Comes To Lessons About Holocaust

From the Carroll County School District: As the Superintendent of Schools, I express my sincere apology regarding the online article and news story released today. During the conversations with teachers during last week’s meeting, the comments made were in no way to convey that the Holocaust was anything less than a terrible event in history. Additionally, we recognize there are …

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CT GOP Official: Helping Kids Of Color Feel Like They Belong Has A Negative Effect On White Christian Kids

Hartford’s CBS News affiliate reports: Mary Beeman, the campaign manager for the Guilford Republican school board candidates, commented, “helping kids of color to feel they belong has a negative effect on white, Christian, or conservative kids,” during a UConn. virtual education forum. When questioned about her comment, Beeman said, “The statement I made was poorly worded and shown out of …

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De Blasio: 95% Of NYC School Employees Now Vaxxed

The Hill reports: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced during a press conference Monday that 95 percent of staff from the city’s Department of Education are vaccinated against the coronavirus as an employee mandate takes effect. The mayor touted the public school employee vaccination rate, which reached 96 percent among teachers and 99 percent among principals, saying it …

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Sotomayor Rejects Petition By Anti-Vax NYC Teachers

New York City’s ABC News affiliate reports: The deadline has passed for unvaccinated New York City public school employees to get their first dose of the COVID-19 shot or face suspension and possible termination, after Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor declined to provide a last minute reprieve Friday. Sotomayor denied the request by a group of teachers for an emergency …

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