Category: Education

New York Attorney General Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour with Drag Group Receiving City Contracts

Susan Berry, PhD

The attorney general of New York State hosted a drag queen story hour event for young children in New York City to protest a perceived “rise in anti-LGBTQ+ protests, rhetoric, and policies.”

In a press statement following the event Sunday, James’ office said “nearly 200 guests enjoyed four back-to-back Story Hours hosted by the Drag Kings, Queens, and Royalty of Drag Story Hour NYC at The Center, which has been a home and resource hub for the LGBTQ+ community and allies since its founding in 1983.”

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Florida College Provost Who Clashed with Conservative Trustees Steps Down

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The New College of Florida (NCF) announced on Monday that an official who sparred with newly appointed conservative trustees earlier this year stepped down from her position, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

Provost Suzanne Sherman stepped down from her position after serving in the role since 2020, according to the college website. Sherman clashed with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed trustees Christopher Rufo and Eddie Speir when they refused to cancel a Jan. 25 town hall meeting after receiving a death threat, and Rufo told reporters before the meeting that the board would reconsider college leadership because what he saw “demonstrated here was cowardice, not leadership,” according to the Herald-Tribune.

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Iowa Suspends New DEI Policies in Higher Education, Launches Probe into Current Ones

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The Board of Regents overseeing Iowa’s public universities has paused implementation of any new diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the state’s three major public universities as officials launch a review of them.

The March 14 announcement comes in the wake of a recently introduced bill in the Iowa House of Representatives that aims to halt spending on DEI initiatives in higher education.

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Once Vaunted as the Best in the Word, Stanford University’s Wayward Record is Growing Infamous

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Stanford was once one of the world’s great universities. It birthed Silicon Valley in its prime. And along with its nearby twin and rival, UC Berkeley, its brilliant researchers, and teachers helped fuel the mid-20th-century California miracle.

That was then. But like the descent of California, now something has gone terribly wrong with the university.

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Commentary: The Universities I Knew in Soviet Russia Valued Merit More than Some American Schools Do Today

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Walking near Temple University, I noticed a flyer advocating for “socialism in our lifetime.” The message from an outside group reads in full, “Socialist Revolution: Join the fight for socialism in our lifetime.” Having grown up in Soviet-era Ukraine and now a tenured professor at Temple, I feel strongly that most college-age Americans do not understand what they are saying when they advocate for socialism. 

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Nebraska Names TDOE Chief Academic Officer as Finalist for State’s Top Education Position

TC Weber

The architect behind Tennessee’s revision of English Language Arts (ELA) instruction, Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE) Chief Academic Officer Dr. Lisa Coons, has been named a finalist for the top education job in Nebraska. The search for a new superintendent was prompted by Matt Blomstedt stepping down as commissioner in January, after 9 years of service, to join a Washington D.C. Education Advocacy Group. 

An ad hoc search committee of the Nebraska State Board of Education (NDE) named four finalists for Nebraska’s next Commissioner of Education, and Coons’s name is among them.

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University of Miami Opens New Center to Foster Civil Discourse

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The University of Miami in Florida recently launched the George P. Hanley Democracy Center with the aim of depolarizing Americans through civil discourse and exporting democracy abroad.

Leonidas Bachas, dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences stated that the university’s “proximity to Latin America also places us in an ideal spot to study democracy in the Americas and beyond.”

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Proposed $15 Million Pennsylvania Tax Credit Targets Career and Technical Programs

The Center Square

A new tax credit could send millions to career and technical education in Pennsylvania to cover program costs – if the General Assembly approves it.

The proposal, House Bill 52, would establish the Career and Technical Education Investment Incentive Program, a $15 million tax credit available to businesses that donate to CTE scholarships or purchase equipment for these programs.

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Dem-Linked Nonprofit Sues DeSantis Admin for Records on Decision to Reject AP History Class

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A left-wing watchdog organization sued Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration on Thursday for allegedly withholding records relating to the decision to reject the AP African American Studies course.

American Oversight filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education claiming the government agency is allegedly not responding to eight public records requests for the communications between state agencies, DeSantis’ office and outside parties discussing the decision to reject an AP African American Studies course because it lacked “educational value and historical accuracy.” The lawsuit comes after DeSantis rejected the college-level course because it violated state law against the teaching of CRT.

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Texas Announces State Takeover of Houston Independent School District

The Center Square

The state of Texas intends to take control of the Houston Independent School District, citing poor academic accountability, violations of the law and the expiration of an injunction that had previously prevented the state from acting, state officials said Wednesday.

The Texas Education Agency said it would name a new district superintendent and suspend the district’s board of trustees. This is the latest in a yearslong fight between the state and the district of about 200,000 students over poor academic performance and the behavior of trustees.

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Teacher Courses Promoting Critical Race Theory Were Funded by Michigan Pandemic Relief

The Center Square

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used federal pandemic relief funds to create virtual courses for teachers about anti-racism and social justice, which encouraged teachers to engage with sources espousing critical race theory.

The CARES Act in 2020 included funds for governors to award to education-related entities via the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. Whitmer and state officials allotted $1.4 million to Michigan State University College of Education, the University of Michigan’s School of Education and Michigan Virtual to create professional learning modules for K-12 teachers.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Administration Directs Top School to Break Ties with Chinese Communist Party

Susan Berry, PhD

Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera directed a top public high school in the United States to stop accepting financial contributions from entities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Grassroots parental advocacy organization Parents Defending Education (PDE) reported that, on March 9, Guidera wrote to Dr. Michelle Reid, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), following PDE’s report that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and the school’s Partnership Fund (Fund) had “received over $1,000,000 worth of donations from Chinese interests since 2014.”

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Revisions to Tennessee’s Third-Grade Retention Law Pass Out of House K-12 Subcommittee

TC Weber

The Tennessee State House K-12 Education Subcommittee considered several proposals before agreeing to accept House Education Chairman Mark White’s (R-Memphis) proposed legislation that would expand opportunities for students to avoid retention while offering K-2 students more resources to stay on track.

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‘Apparently, I Am the Wrong Kind of Black’: California Equity Director Fired for Viewpoint Diversity

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Dr. Tabia Lee, faculty director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at De Anza College, alleges that she is being terminated for not adhering to anti-racist “orthodoxy.”

Lee, a Black woman who grew up in central California, was fired last week from her position as a tenure track Faculty Director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at the community college in Cupertino, California, according to Inside Higher Ed.

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Florida House Committee Approves ‘Teacher Bill of Rights’ Measure

The Center Square

The Florida House Civil Justice Subcommittee approved three bills that are designed to reform the Sunshine State’s civil litigation system.

House Bill 1035, also known as the “Teachers Bill of Rights,” was presented by state Rep. Karen Gonzalez-Pittman, R-Tampa, who stated that education is a fundamental value of the people of Florida.

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Minnesota Considers Bill That Provides Free School Meals to All Students

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Minnesota is poised to become just the third state in the nation to provide free school meals for all students. But it will come at a taxpayer cost of about $200 million a year, regardless of whether a family has any trouble at all paying for their kids’ breakfast and lunch — which amounts to about $6 a day.

On Tuesday four Republicans joined 34 DFLers as the Minnesota Senate voted 38-26 to pass a universal school meals bill that Gov. Tim Walz has said he’ll sign when it reaches his desk. Last month the House passed the bill by a 70-54 vote. No Republicans in the House supported the measure.

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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton Proposes Next Step for Tennessee in Possibly Rejecting Federal Education Funds

TC Weber

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has laid out the next step required for Tennessee to possibly reject federal education dollars in the future. On Monday, he filed legislation (add an attachment here) that would create an 11-member task force, helmed by  Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, to study the process required for the state to forego federal funding.

The proposed committee would begin meeting monthly in August and would be expected to deliver a strategic plan to Governor Lee and the General Assembly by December 1. The legislation further requires that Commissioner Schwinn, in her role as chair, notify the US Department of Education by August 31 and advise them on Tennessee’s intent to explore the possibility of Tennessee rejecting federal funding.

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Virginians to Offer Feedback on History Standards

The Center Square

The Virginia Board of Education this week is beginning a series of public hearings on the most recent draft of the state’s history and social science standards – the latest step in a process to revise the state’s history standards, versions of which have faced criticism in recent months.

The first of six public hearings on the state’s new history and social science standards will take place Monday at 7pm in Williamsburg. Throughout this week and early next week, officials will host a slate of hearings in Mount Vernon, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Abingdon and Farmville. 

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Connecticut Parents Battle Bill to Mandate Comprehensive Sex Ed in Government Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

Gender ideology and activities asking students about their favorite sex acts will be considered “age appropriate” in all Connecticut government schools if a bill mandating Comprehensive Sex Education is passed by the state legislature and signed into law, pro-family activists say.

Senate Bill 1 would mandate “comprehensive sex education that is age and developmentally appropriate and includes, but is not limited to, instruction about affirmative consent,” and would require the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) to recommend the curriculum for such “education.”

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Wisconsin Assembly Passes Bills Requiring Schools to Get Transparent on School Crimes

M.D. Kittle

Sick of the recurring violence going on in classrooms, hallways and gymnasiums, parent Kate Bertram last week told the Wauwatosa School Board that the “new pandemic in Wauwatosa schools is a lack of accountability.” 

A Republican-led bill passed Tuesday in the Assembly demands more accountability from Wisconsin’s schools in tracking crime. 

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Arizona Christian University Alleges Religious Discrimination After Glendale School District Terminated Teacher Contract

Rachel Alexander

Washington Elementary School District No. 6 (WESD) in Glendale terminated the contract of Arizona Christian University (ACU) to provide student teachers last month, despite an ongoing teacher shortage, citing the religious tenets of the university as the reason. In response, The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ACU on March 9, demanding multiple types of damages, including punitive.

The suit alleges a violation of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment. It asserts that “Arizona Christian and its students do not share religious messages and beliefs within its student teacher programs with local public Schools.”

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University of Arizona Hikes Tuition by Three Percent for Incoming Students

The Center Square

The University of Arizona proposed a 3% increase in tuition for all incoming resident undergraduate students, effective in the 2023-24 academic year. Out-of-state incoming students will experience a 4% increase in tuition.

Current students will not be affected by the change, thanks to the Guaranteed Tuition Program, which started in 2014. The program ensures that all undergrad degree-seeking students will pay the same tuition and fees throughout their time at the university.

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Dr. Mark McDonald Tells Parents What They Need to Do to Save Their Children from Government Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

Los Angeles-based psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald said “America’s schools are broken” beyond repair and have now become “dangerous” centers of leftist indoctrination – a problem parents must solve by changing their lifestyles, if necessary, to save their children.

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Medical School Students Required to Take Class Including Woke DEI Gender Indoctrination

Susan Berry, PhD

Students at the Indiana University School of Medicine are required to take a basic Human Structure class that includes indoctrination in the woke gender ideology agenda, Fox News revealed Sunday.

The first-year students in the Human Structure class have a “sex and gender primer” lesson that states “both sex and gender fall along a continuum, rather than being binary constructs,” and claims “a nuanced understanding of sex and gender and the use of inclusive terminology may positively affect healthcare of all individuals,” according to the documents obtained by Fox News.

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‘Health Crisis’: Minnesota Legislators Call for Return to Phonics-Based Reading Instruction

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Half of Minnesota’s students can’t read at grade level.

At a recent press conference, legislative Republicans said this is because the education establishment bought into the “whole language” and “balanced literacy” approaches to reading.

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Bill Would Increase Tennessee Teacher Pay, Stop Payroll Collection of Dues

The Center Square

A bill to both raise the minimum Tennessee teacher salary to $50,000 by 2026-27 and eliminate the option of districts collecting Tennessee Education Association dues from paychecks passed the Senate Education Committee this week.

The bill is sponsored by State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, but was termed an administration bill supported by Gov. Bill Lee. When asked why the two topics were combined by both a Republican and Democratic member of the committee, representatives from the Tennessee Department of Education said that was the choice of Lee.

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Arizona Education Chief: The Key to Success in College Depends Directly on the Academic Quality Students Receive Before They Enroll

Neil Jones

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (R) told The Arizona Sun Times over the phone that he hopes his administration can increase the number of Arizona high school graduates enrolling in universities by improving the education they receive before graduating.

“In order to go onto college, students have to get a good academic education, and that’s my total focus, to improve the academic education students get,” Horne said via the phone. “I’m doing everything I can to raise the academics in the schools.”

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Teachers, Activists Push School Districts to Drop Calculus in the Name of Equity

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Teachers and activists are pushing for high schools to drop their calculus courses to increase equity as many minority and low-income students don’t have access to the class, according to The 74, a nonprofit news organization covering education.

In the 2017-2018 school year, 76% of schools with “low student of color enrollment” offered calculus while 52% of schools with a high proportion of students of color offered the advanced math course, according to a Learning Policy Institute report. The course, teachers and activists argued, is disproportionately offered to students not of an underrepresented group, giving other students an advantage in the college admissions process, according to The 74.

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As Lawmakers Mull Major School Policy Changes, Tennessee Education Commissioner Schwinn Keeps a Busy Travel Schedule

TC Weber

While Tennessee state lawmakers debate third-grade reading retention policies, and local school superintendents implement Tennessee’s new school funding formula, Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education continues to travel the country promoting Tennessee’s education initiatives.

Last quarter’s travel expenses filed with the state, reveal trips to Austin, Arlington, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Washington D.C. In February she was in D.C. to help the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) launch the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI), a bipartisan initiative co-led with Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC, to increase education research and development investments across the federal government.

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Professor Argues Cancer Research Needs More ‘Antiracism’

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Christabel Cheung, a professor at the University of Maryland, recently gave a presentation arguing that principles of “antiracism” must be incorporated into cancer research.

The presentation came as part of a symposium hosted by the University of Michigan School of Social Work on “Achieving Health Equity in Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Psycho-Oncology Care.”

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Commentary: Student Debt Forgiveness Won’t Cure Higher Education’s Ills

RealClearWire

On February 28th, the Supreme Court heard arguments on President Biden’s plan to extinguish an estimated $400 billion in student debt. Biden deserves credit for highlighting a debilitating federal program in desperate need of reform. His proposal, however, would make the problem far worse, not better. Any serious reform would force academic institutions to take some responsibility for the education they provide—and to show some responsibility to the many young Americans they induce to go deeply into debt. 

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Arizona High School’s Policy Tells Girls to Leave Their Locker Room If Uncomfortable with Trans Students

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An Arizona high school has a policy allowing transgender students to change in their preferred locker rooms and telling female students to use alternative facilities if they are uncomfortable, according to emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Students and parents at Catalina Foothills High School (CFHS) in Tucson, Arizona, found out about the new policy after Bart Pemberton, a parent of a female student from CFHS, spoke with radio host Garrett Lewis about an “unwritten policy” that his daughter had told him about. The policy not only allows transgender students in the bathroom or locker room of their choice but also tells students who are uncomfortable with the policy to request an accommodation to use different changing facilities, according to emails obtained by the DCNF.

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Study: Average American IQ Is Declining for the First Time in a Century

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A new study asserts that the intelligence quotient (IQ) of the average American citizen is now on the decline for the first time in nearly 100 years.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the study was published in the psychology journal Intelligence. Analyzing the time period between 2006 and 2018, the study’s authors note that the biggest decline in IQ occurred among Americans between the ages of 18 and 22.

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New Legislation Would Exempt Tennessee Teachers from Cataloging Books in Classroom Libraries

TC Weber

State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) introduced legislation that would exempt teachers from the state requirement of cataloging books in their personal classroom libraries in a manner that would not undermine current law as it applies to school libraries.

According to Yarbro’s legislation, if passed into law, this bill would free teachers up while creating a policy that ensures parents and legal guardians have multiple opportunities throughout the school year to view books in their student’s classroom libraries. Also, a provision prohibits teachers from knowingly or intentionally using their classroom libraries to circumvent the current law. This ensures that inappropriate books for the school’s library can not be included in classroom libraries.

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Bill Would Ban Bias Response Teams from Pennsylvania Public Colleges

The Center Square

College campuses in recent years have created “bias response teams” to respond to student concerns over bias or controversial speech, with hundreds of them established nationwide.

However, free speech advocates have challenged the legitimacy of the teams, fearing that they can chill or limit constitutionally protected speech.

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Wisconsin Schools Allocate Millions in Stimulus Dollars After Report on Slow Progress

The Center Square

Wisconsin schools have double the amount of coronavirus stimulus money they plan to spend in just the past two months.

Quinton Klabon, senior research director for the Institute for Reforming Government, says schools across Wisconsin rushed to allocate millions of dollars in ESSER III money after IRG reported in late January that most of the state’s $1.5 billion in stimulus cash was just lying around.

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Raucous School Board Meeting After District Decides to Stop Hiring Teachers from Arizona Christian University

Rachel Alexander

Over 100 concerned parents, educators, and others showed up at a school board meeting of Washington Elementary School District No. 6 (WESD) in Glendale to speak Thursday night, most of them upset that the school board unanimously decided that the district would no longer hire student teachers from Arizona Christian University (ACU). Newly elected School Board Member Tamillia Valenzuela, who describes herself as “witchy AF” and “queer AF,” led the effort, stating the university’s “biblically-informed” values made her feel unsafe.

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Minnesota Bill Would Prohibit Colleges from Requiring a Faith Statement for Postsecondary Enrollment Options Students

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A proposal to bar colleges that require a statement of faith from participating in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is buried within Gov. Tim Walz’s education policy bill.

The Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act allows Minnesota high school students to earn both high school and college credits for free, since the schools are reimbursed by the state.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin: ‘I Don’t Think Biological Boys Should Be Playing Sports with Biological Girls’

Susan Berry, PhD

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) delivered a straightforward response to a 17-year-old girl identifying as a boy who asked the governor about school restrooms and sports policies that place biological sex above gender identity.

During a CNN Townhall, Nico, a 17-year-old girl who identifies as a boy, asked Youngkin about his school policies requiring students to use the bathrooms and play on the athletic teams consistent with their biological sex.

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Commentary: The Importance of Philosophical Fiction

Admin

I must admit that I have not always been a serious reader. Like the vast majority of consumers of art, I was more interested in the escapist element of fiction and cinema. I would read a book or watch a film as a way to escape into another world for a couple hours. I was enthralled by the likes of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and Stephen King’s The Shining.

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Lawmakers Respond to Tennessee Star Report on ETSU’s Embracing of DEI Policies, In Spite of State Law

TC Weber

William Block, M.D., dean of medicine at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine, recently sent out an email, in which he defined the words “equity” as “the quality of being fair and impartial,” and “woke” as “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” The email is one of several in which Dean appears to be placing the tenets of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) over those of achievement. It is a position that runs counter to recently passed Tennessee state law, raising questions and concerns with state lawmakers.

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Iowa Republicans Advance Bill to Block Spending on ‘Woke Agenda’ in State Universities

Susan Berry, PhD

A bill passed by an Iowa House committee and currently making its way through the state House aims to put a stop to the woke agenda in state colleges and universities by prohibiting the schools from spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and personnel working in roles associated with such ideology.

“For too long, the DEI bureaucracies at our institutions of higher education have been used to push a woke agenda on the faculty, staff and students,” Iowa state Rep. Taylor Collins told Fox News. “Under the guise of diversity and inclusion, these programs work to indoctrinate students into their preferred political ideology.”

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne Announces ‘Empowerment Hotline’ to Report CRT in Schools

Neil Jones

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced Thursday that he is launching the “Empowerment Hotline” (EH) so constituents can call in reports of students receiving alleged inappropriate teachings in the classrooms.

“I promised to establish this hotline so that anyone could report the teaching of inappropriate lessons that rob students of precious minutes of instruction time in core academic subjects such as reading, math, science, history and the arts. That promise is being kept,” Horne said.

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Commentary: The Right’s Long Countermarch Through the Institutions

RealClearWire

Is the Right commencing a long countermarch through the institutions, including the very one – the academy – from which the Left’s own long march began? 

Judging by the distress shown by some in the educational establishment, and like-minded corporate media, regarding higher-education reform efforts in North Carolina and Florida, one might get the impression that the countermarch is not only underway but rapidly advancing – threatening progressives’ stranglehold over schools and virtually every other American power center. 

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Parents Organization Reports Nearly 6,000 U.S. Public Schools Support Keeping Child’s Gender Identity Hidden from Parents

Susan Berry, PhD

A Parents Defending Education (PDE) report revealed that 5,904 government schools in the United States maintain transgender or “gender nonconforming” policies that openly assert school staff can or should keep a child’s preferred gender identity hidden from parents.

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Ohio Middle School Scrubs Fifth Grade Gender Identity Lesson After Exposé

Susan Berry, PhD

A middle school in Copley, Ohio, has eliminated a fifth-grade gender identity lesson from its health curriculum following exposure of the lesson at Libs of TikTok, a report Tuesday revealed.

At the outset of a letter sent to parents that was printed on the letterhead of Akron Children’s Hospital, Rachel O’Donnell, fifth-grade health teacher at Copley-Fairlawn Middle School, wrote the program would “cover the physical and emotional changes that can be expected during puberty” and would be taught in a way that was “age-appropriate, scientifically accurate, and non-judgmental.”

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Top American High School Received More than $1 Million from Groups Tied to China

Just the News

A prestigious U.S. high school reportedly received more than $1 million in donations from Chinese-linked organizations, a report from watchdog group Parents Defending Education indicates.

Thomas Jefferson High School, situated in Fairfax County, Va., focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and ranks among the nation’s best high schools.

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