A recent risk-based audit of Grand Canyon University conducted by the Arizona State Approving Agency (SAA) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs did not “show any findings” related to the institution’s doctoral disclosures, which have been targeted by the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through a $37.7 million fine.
Read the full storyTag: U.S. Department of Education
Goldwater Institute Sues Department of Education over ‘Unprecedented’ $37 Million Fine Assessed Against Arizona’s Christian Grand Canyon University
The Goldwater Institute (GI) sued the U.S. Department of Education last week over fining Grand Canyon University (GCU) almost $40 million.
The fine was purportedly for “insufficiently inform[ing] PhD students that they may have to take continuing courses while completing their doctoral dissertations,” GI said in a press release. GI noted that the $37 million fine against the Christian university “is 10 times bigger than penalties the Education Department assessed against Penn State and Michigan State for covering up the sexual crimes of Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar.”
Read the full storyComplaint: Minnesota High School Restricts Student Group Entry by Race
Parents Defending Education filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against Burnsville High School in Minnesota based on race and national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance.
Burnsville High School offers programming to affinity groups only open to some students.
Read the full storyTennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Introduces Bill Protecting States Defining Sex as ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ from Losing Federal Funding
Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) introduced a bill Thursday that would protect states, including Tennessee, that define sex as male and female from losing federal funding.
Read the full storyTennessee Committee on Federal Education Funding Begins Monday
A Tennessee committee is scheduled to begin its review on the state’s use of federal funding for K-12 education at 2 p.m. on Monday with presentations from Tennessee’s Office of Research and Educational Accountability and the state’s Fiscal Review office.
The Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding is scheduled to hear from education and financial experts during two weeks of committee meetings as state leaders evaluate the possibility of rejecting federal education funding coming to Tennessee.
Read the full storyHouse Speaker Sexton and Lt. Gov McNally Announce Creation of Joint Working Group to Study How Federal Funding Impacts Education in Tennessee
On Monday, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) announced the creation of a new Joint Working Group to study the impact federal funds have on education in the Volunteer State.
Read the full storySix Tennessee Schools Recognized by U.S. Department of Education as 2023 Blue Ribbon Schools
Six schools in Tennessee were recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2023.
Read the full storyAG Skrmetti Leads Multi-State Coalition in Urging Congress to Pass Tennessee Rep. Mark Green’s Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has led a coalition of 24 states in urging Congress to pass Representative Mark Green’s (R-TN-07) Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act.
Read the full storyTennessee U.S. Rep. Green Introduces Bill to Reverse ‘Out of Touch’ Biden Administration’s Defunding of Hunting, Archery Classes in Schools
Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) filed legislation on Tuesday that would reverse the Biden Administration’s decision to defund school archery and hunting programs
Read the full storyTennessee AG Skrmetti Warns Student Loan Borrowers of Scams amid Biden Administration Cancellation of Debt
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office is warning Tennesseans with student debt of scammers offering relief that they cannot provide in wake of the Biden Administration’s recent forgiveness of $39 billion in Federal student loans.
Read the full storyMiyares Urges Biden Administration to Uphold Title IX
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined nearly two dozen state attorneys general imploring the Biden administration to protect female athletes by upholding Title IX.
The opposition from the coalition follows a proposal from the Department of Education to allow biological males to compete in female sports.
Read the full storyArizona Department of Education Requests Changes for Lawsuit Against Arizona’s Law Separating Boys’ and Girls’ Sports
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced Thursday it had filed a motion in court to have the venue of a lawsuit against the enforcement of an Arizona law changed from Tucson to Phoenix.
“Crucially, counsel for the parties are located in Phoenix. Even Plaintiffs are represented by local counsel in Phoenix, as is counsel for Superintendent [Tom] Horne. The result is that all of the Arizona lawyers are located in Phoenix, none are located in Tucson. That makes an overwhelming difference in the expense to the parties in litigating this case,” according to the motion, emailed to reporters.
Read the full storyAtlanta Separates Blacks from Whites in ‘Academic Recovery’ Summer Program
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) took more than a year to open an investigation into allegedly intentional racial segregation in Atlanta Public Schools and purported retaliation against parents who complained.
The feds may soon face a similar complaint: keeping predominantly black and white elementary schools apart in a summer program intended to mitigate learning loss due to COVID-19 policies.
Read the full storyUpdates on Michigan Emergency School Funding Targeted for Late May
Michigan’s still among 20 states that haven’t reported on a public dashboard what Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding was used to purchase or provide, a recent report found.
However, the state is adding more details soon, a state official said Wednesday.
Read the full storyRepublican States Weigh Rejecting Federal Education Funds to Block Federal Interference
Republican states are beginning to consider rejecting federal funding for K-12 education in order to keep out federal interference in the form of the strings attached to the monies.
In February, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said he had introduced a bill to create a task force to weigh the idea of the state rejecting the roughly $1.8 billion of federal monies it receives for K-12 education.
Read the full storySenator JD Vance Says ‘Extreme Left’ Needs to do a Lot of ‘Soul Searching’ After Nashville School Shooting
In the wake of the murder of six people at a Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee by an individual who reportedly “identified as transgender” on Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that the extreme left needs to do a lot of “soul searching.”
According to Vance, this terrible incident should prompt the extreme left to deeply consider the correctness of their ideals.
Read the full storyOhio Attorney General Yost Fights Back Against Biden’s Attempt to Revoke Protection for Student Religious Groups
On Friday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging the department to maintain a regulation that mandates public universities to uphold the First Amendment or risk losing grant funding.
In accordance with the current rule, which was put in place in 2020 to carry out Supreme Court precedent, public universities are not allowed to deny religious student organizations “any right, benefit or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the public institution” because of the group’s “beliefs, practices, policies, speech, membership standards or leadership standards, which are informed by sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Read the full storyMedical School Under Federal Investigation over Its Allegedly Racist Scholarship Program
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched a federal investigation March 6 into St. Louis University (SLU) after a complaint was filed accusing the school of offering a racially discriminatory scholarship, medical watchdog group Do No Harm reported.
The complaint, filed by Do No Harm senior fellow Mark Perry in September, accused SLU School of Medicine’s Scholarship Program for Visiting Medical Students Underrepresented in Medicine violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race-based discrimination, because it is only accessible to students that identify as a specific race, the OCR letter reads. The office “will investigate whether the University discriminates against students based on race, color, or national origin in connection” with the program.
Read the full storyCommentary: Seperating Fact from Fiction
The State of New Jersey recently enacted a law that requires K–12 students to learn “information literacy.” Stated plainly, this is the skills to determine what’s true and what’s not. The law is allegedly the first of its kind in the nation.
The sentiment behind the legislation is admirable, but the law itself is vague and gives the NJ Department of Education broad authority to create these standards. Given the track record of the U.S. education establishment, this could be an epic mistake.
Read the full storyOhio Republican Party Passes Resolution Rejecting Expansion of Title IX
The Republican State Central and Executive Committee of Ohio passed a resolution during their January meeting to reject proposed changes to broaden the definition of sex-based harassment and discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation for LGBTQ students.
The committee resoundingly passed the resolution to “support parents, schools, and districts in rejecting harmful, coercive, and burdensome gender identity policies and to protect federal funding subject to Title IX.”
Read the full storyU.S. Department of Education Finds Fairfax Schools Didn’t Provide Necessary Services to Students with Disabilities During Remote Learning
The U.S. Department of Education found that Fairfax County Public Schools didn’t take needed steps to ensure that students with disabilities received a legally-guaranteed free appropriate public education (FAPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Based on the evidence obtained through the Division’s documents and data, as well as interviews of administrators, OCR [Office for Civil Rights] found that the Division failed or was unable to provide a FAPE to thousands of qualified students with disabilities in violation of Section 504,” OCR District of Columbia Regional Director Emily Frangos wrote in a Wednesday letter to FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid.
Read the full storyBiden Admin Extends Student Loan Payment Pause Again
The Biden administration extended the student loan repayment pause to until the end of June 2023 while the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan is tied up in court, according to a Tuesday press release from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).
Under the extension, loans do not need to be paid until 60 days after June 30, 2023, or whenever “litigation is resolved,” according to the DOE press release. The extension of the repayment pause comes as the Department of Justice (DOJ) urges the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling which blocked the student loan forgiveness plan.
Read the full storyVanderbilt Research Professor Appointed to Serve in the Biden Administration
President Joe Biden appointed Vanderbilt Peabody College research professor Douglas Fuchs, PhD to the National Board for Education Sciences, the university announced in a Wednesday press release.
Biden selected Fuchs, along with 13 others, to serve as board members on October 27.
Read the full storyGroup Sues U.S. Department of Education over Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation Plan
A nonprofit legal group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Education to block its move to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for some borrowers.
“Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt,” Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Kruckenberg said. “It’s flagrantly illegal for the executive branch to create a $500 billion program by press release, and without statutory authority or even the basic notice and comment procedure for new regulations.”
Read the full storyLeahy and Gulbransen Weigh In on Tennessee AG Skrmetti’s Position on Title IX, Redefining the Word ‘Sex’
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Aaron Gulbransen in studio to comment upon recent public statements made by newly elected Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti regarding Title XI and redefining the word “sex.”
Read the full storyFirst Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Traveling to Knoxville This Week
First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona are traveling to Knoxville this week to kick off the Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.
Read the full storyDebbie Lesko Demands Answers on Biden Administration Gender Ideology Training for Schools
Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) recently sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, requesting information regarding gender ideology training for schools.
“The Biden Administration will stop at nothing to impose the gender ideology of the radical left in our nation’s schools,” Lesko said in a press release. “As the founder of the Protect Kids Caucus, I am requesting answers from the Department of Education [DOE] to ensure that schools are not forced to provide this training or promote gender ideology to young students without parental notice and consent.”
Read the full story7,190 Virginians to Receive Debt Forgiveness After Finding That ITT Technical Institute Misled Students
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) granted federal loan forgiveness to former ITT Technical Institute students, including $141.6 million across 7,190 Virginians, after findings that the school falsely advertised the value of its degrees.
“Attending higher education is a big decision, and a sacrifice for many Virginians,” Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a press release.
Read the full storyBiden Admin to Investigate Major University for Alleged ‘Hostile Environment of Anti-Semitism’
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for allegedly creating a “hostile environment of anti-semitism” on campus, according to a press release.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint in November 2020 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for Rose Ritch, a USC student who was forced to resign from her role as student body vice president after students allegedly harassed her for being a “Zionist” and excluded her because she is Jewish, according to the press release. The OCR notified the Brandeis Center that it will investigate the university on Tuesday, the center announced.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Lawmaker Wants Education Department to Explain ‘Gender Unicorn’ Material
A Republican lawmaker is pressing the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to explain the use of material featuring characters called “Genderbread Person” and “the Gender Unicorn.”
A week ago, State Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Ellwood City) sent a letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of Education (PDE) Noe Ortega asking about a diagram apparently distributed by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that depicts the two figures.
Read the full storyCommentary: Louisiana’s Bold Move to Overhaul High School Career and Technical Education
America’s high schools have problems. Nearly twenty years ago, Bill Gates observed that the existing model is obsolete — that, even when high schools “work,” the results are too often mediocre. In 2016, The Education Trust found that 47 percent of high schoolers graduated prepared for neither college nor a career. In 2018, Gallup reported that two-thirds of high schoolers described themselves as wholly or partially disengaged. And, just last month, the National Center for Education Statistics concluded that high schools are plagued by grade inflation: Over the past decade, grades have risen to a record high even as math and science performance by 12th graders has edged down.
Read the full storyBiden Administration Endorses Transgender Hormones and Surgeries in Children
The Biden administration released documents Thursday that endorse children and adolescents with claims of gender dysphoria to experience “gender-affirming care,” including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and body-mutilating transgender surgeries, including elective double mastectomies and castrations.
Biden appeared in a video endorsing transgender treatments and surgeries for children.
Read the full storyBiden Education Department ‘Declares War’ on Charter Schools as School Choice Becomes Overwhelmingly Popular in America
As more families and teachers flee government schools, the Biden administration – bound to the teachers unions – has now “declared war” on charter schools, as Robert Maranto, editor of the Journal of School Choice, wrote at National Review Monday.
The Biden education department is now on a path to sabotage the federal grant program that funds charter schools, public schools that are privately managed, with its proposal of new rules that appear to actually deter applicants from seeking grants.
Read the full storyFormer Tennessee Speaker Beth Harwell Officially Announces Her Candidacy for the 5th Congressional District
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed former Speaker of the House, Beth Harwell to the newsmakers line to officially announce her candidacy for the Fifth Congressional District seat and her two top priorities if elected.
Read the full storyMinnesota College Ends Segregated ‘Anti-Racism’ Training Program After Civil Rights Complaint
A liberal arts college in southeastern Minnesota ended its “anti-racism” training program following a civil rights complaint.
Carleton College, located in Northfield, held racially segregated “mandatory monthly affinity groups” as part of its “anti-racism training series” for employees and staff throughout the spring 2021 semester (January through May 2021).
Read the full storyANALYSIS: A Look at Universities’ Foreign Contribution Filings
Data collected by the US Department of Education show that during 2021, colleges and universities amassed a total of $1.3 billion in contracts and gifts from foreign sources, including $337 million from foreign governments.
The U.S. Department of Education has expressed concern about foreign nations using funds to influence American institutions of higher education. “For at least two decades,” the Department said in a report published last October, “the industry has been on direct notice that at least some of these foreign sources are hostile to the United States and are targeting their investments (i.e., “gifts” and “contracts”) to project soft power, steal sensitive and proprietary research, and spread propaganda.”
Campus Reform has covered how China uses Confucius Institutes to exert influence on American schools. Needs a line about what Confucius Institutes are Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated the program as “part of the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence and propaganda apparatus.”
Read the full storyTeachers Get Raises, Bonuses From Federal COVID Relief Funds Meant to Reopen Schools Safely
This week’s Golden Horseshoe once again goes to the U.S. Department of Education for allowing school districts to use pandemic relief funds for pay raises and bonuses for teachers despite the funds being appropriated to reopen schools safely.
Schools nationwide received $190 billion through three relief packages passed. Of that total, the largest sum, $122 billion, was from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
Read the full storyReport: More Than Half of Federal School COVID Relief Funds Used for Non-Pandemic Purposes
This week’s Golden Horseshoe Award goes to the U.S. Department of Education for approving pandemic relief spending plans by school districts that include millions for upgrading athletic facilities, installing security cameras, purchasing floor shiners and other non-pandemic related projects.
Approximately $190 billion in pandemic funding under both the Trump and Biden administrations was allocated to schools to safely reopen and protect teachers and students.
Read the full storyFederally Funded Critical Race Theory Program Removes ‘Critical Race Theory’ from Description
Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Education approved a grant application for a summer research program whose “core feature” was introducing student fellows to “critical race theory.”
The feds approved a five-year extension of the original grant for the Research Institute for Scholars of Equity (RISE) this year, with one notable and unexplained omission: the term “critical race theory.”
Read the full storyFederal Taxpayers Pay Millions to Fund Program That Funds Students to Promote Critical Race Theory
Federal grant records show the U.S. Department of Education has awarded millions of taxpayer dollars to fund critical race theory training for future educators at several colleges across the country.
In 2016 under the Obama administration, the federal government awarded its first five-year grant of $1,116,895 to North Carolina Central University (NCCU) for “training” college students in critical race theory.
Read the full storyBiden Administration Warns Florida About Penalties for Mask Mandates
After the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) proposed to ramp up punishment for school boards enforcing mask mandates, the Biden Administration warned them on Monday to “reconsider” their “threatened actions.”
On October 7th, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced his proposal to prevent school boards from receiving federal funding from the Project to Support America’s Families and Educators grant program – or “Project SAFE” – that provides funding to school districts that are financially penalized for implementing CDC guidelines such as mask mandates.
Read the full storyU.S. Senate Confirms Gwen Graham for Position in U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Senate confirmed former Florida Congresswoman and attorney, Gwen Graham, as assistant secretary of legislation and congressional affairs in the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday.
Representing the Tallahassee area and other parts of north Florida, Graham was part of the Florida House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017, and lost a bid for governor in 2018.
Read the full storyU.S. Department of Education Pays Fines for Florida School Board Members
School board members in Alachua County, who saw their salaries cut due to mandating masks in their schools against Governor DeSantis’ Executive Order 21-175, were repaid Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE).
Funding for the payment comes from a new program established by the Biden Administration known as the Project to Support America’s Families and Educators grant program, or “Project SAFE.”
Read the full storyTennessee State Legislators Push Back Against Biden Administration Claim Parents Opting Out of Mask Mandates Is a Civil Rights Violation
U.S. Department of Education (USDE) officials announced Monday they will investigate Tennessee and five other states that allow parents the right to opt out of a public school’s COVID-19 mask mandates. In a press release, USDE officials said such policies could discriminate against students who are disabled and at heightened risk for severe illness.
Read the full storyFeds Address DeSantis’ ‘Mask-Optional’ Order
The U.S. Department of Education (U.S. DOE) has expressed their concern over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ insistence on Florida’s public schools being mask optional for this school year. DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates in Florida’s schools ensuring the parents have “freedom to choose.”
However, the U.S. DOE sent a letter to DeSantis and Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran on Friday.
Read the full storyDespite Criticism, Florida Governor DeSantis Awards Bonus Checks
Governor DeSantis held three ceremonies in the state of Florida Tuesday, awarding first responders and educators with $1,000 bonuses from the for their hard work and dedication through the pandemic.
In addition to first responders’ work through the pandemic, DeSantis’ first ceremony was held in Surfside for search-and-rescue task force members who helped in the aftermath of the Champlain Tower collapse. The last two ceremonies were in Jacksonville and Pensacola respectively.
Read the full storyU.S. Department of Education Questions DeSantis Teacher Bonus Plan
Th U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has questioned Governor Desantis’ announcement to give Florida teachers a $1,000 bonus for returning to the classroom for the upcoming school year.
On Wednesday, the USDOE sent a letter to Florida Education Commissioner, Richard Corcoran, that claimed the approved bonuses do not fit the eligible guidelines set by federal agency, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).
Read the full storyGeorgia Department of Education Officials Want Public Input on American Rescue Plan Spending
Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) officials want public feedback as they plan how to spend taxpayer money they received through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which is the federal government’s third COVID-19 relief bill. This, according to a press release that GaDOE officials emailed this week.
Read the full storyTennessee Congressman Plans to Introduce Bill to Abolish U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-04) plan to introduce legislation to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. Representatives for both congressmen said they will put the legislation forward, but they would not say precisely when.
Read the full storyJC Bowman Commentary: Legislation That Hurts School Discipline
Lack of student discipline, inadequate administrative support, and lack of respect are frequently cited why teachers leave the profession. The continued barrage of top-down legislation by the Tennessee General Assembly does not help.
Read the full story