Category: Education

Students’ Math and Reading Scores Aren’t Bouncing Back from School Closures

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Students’ academic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled despite efforts to make up for the learning loss, according to a Tuesday report.

Students on average need more than four extra months in school in order to catch up to grade-level expectations, according to a report by NWEA, a nonprofit organization that provides Pre-K-12 assessment data. The report showed that, on average, students’ math and reading scores are growing slower than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Georgia’s Education Tax Credit Could Save the State Millions: Audit

The Center Square

Georgia’s Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit (QEEC) could save the state and local school districts millions of dollars in expenses.

However, the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts could not determine the exact fiscal impact because the “switcher rate” — the number of scholarship recipients who would have attended a public school without a Student Scholarship Organizations scholarship — is unknown.

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State Board of Education Approves Core Instructional Programs for K-3

The Center Square

The Virginia Board of Education took another step in its efforts toward improving students’ literacy when it approved a new list of core instructional programs for grades K-3 on Thursday.

“I believe that the Board of Education’s vote to approve these research-based literacy programs will prove to be one of the most consequential actions of my seven years on the board,” said Board President Dan Gecker.

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New Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds Sworn Into Office

TC Weber

Tennessee officially has a new State Commissioner of Education. Lizzette Reynolds, a Texas native, was sworn in last week as the latest head of the Tennessee Department of Education. She replaces Penny Schwinn, who resigned effective June 1.

“I am excited and humbled by having the opportunity to serve Tennessee’s families to ensure they get the best possible education for their children,” said Commissioner Reynolds. “I look forward to meeting with educators, families, elected officials, and stakeholders throughout the state and continuing the great work already happening on behalf of kids in Tennessee.”

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Commentary: The Question of Socialization in Homeschooling

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Questions about the socialization of homeschooled children are by far the most frequently asked of a homeschooling parent. The misconception is that without the traditional school experience to provide social training, homeschooled children will grow up having no idea how to function and fit into society.

My own children have been peppered with questions about their socialization training, or lack thereof, by complete strangers while the adult doing the questioning ignores all social cues and boundaries about the appropriateness of such an inquisition of a child. I myself have also been questioned, sometimes quite aggressively, about the issue of socialization as it relates to my homeschooled children.

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Nation’s Largest Teachers’ Union Vows to Embrace Radical LGBTQ Agenda in Government Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

Delegates at the National Education Association’s (NEA) annual representative assembly in Orlando, Florida, passed a measure this week that pledges the union will organize against what it perceives as anti-LGBTQ legislation and so-called “book banning,” as it also bolsters protections for LGBTQ teachers.

The measure addresses “the prevalence of discrimination and violence targeted” at LGBTQ individuals, reported Education Week, and includes “mobilizing against legislative attacks, providing professional development on LGBTQ+ issues for educators, and strengthening contract protections for LGBTQ+ educators.”

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Constitutional Law Center Urges over 150 Medical Schools to End Race-Based Admissions Following Supreme Court Decision

Susan Berry, PhD

A nonprofit law center whose mission is to defend the constitutional rights of Americans has sent a letter to more than 150 medical schools throughout the country, calling upon them to end their race-based admissions policies in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down affirmative action.

Liberty Justice Center, which won a major victory for First Amendment rights in June 2018 after the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that non-union government workers cannot be required to pay union fees as a condition of working in public service, has now announced efforts to inform the schools of their “legal obligation to end race-based admissions policies” in response to the Court’s recent ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. 

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Florida Gov. DeSantis-Backed College Trustees Push Creation of ‘Freedom Institute’ to Challenge ‘Cancel Culture’

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The Board of Trustees at the New College of Florida submitted a $2 million budget request to the state legislature Thursday in order to establish a “Freedom Institute” that will seek to combat “cancel culture” in higher education.

The trustees, a majority of whom were appointed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, say that the new institute will allow for the expression of dissenting views, according to the board’s July 6 meeting agenda, which outlines the proposal for the institute. The institute will also honor a commitment to upholding the right to free speech and will prompt civil engagement.

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Tennessee Department of Education Partners with Private Firm to Manage Education Savings Account Program

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) started a 5-year, $3.65 million contract with a private firm to manage the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program. While DBA Students First Technologies (SFT) is a relatively new company, ownership said it feels confident in its ability to partner with the state in serving Tennessee families exploring alternative education opportunities.

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Influential Conservative Think Tank Calls on Congress to Reform College Accreditation

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A new report from an influential conservative think tank calls on Congress to fix the college accreditation process and end accreditors’ stranglehold on higher education.

With the stated aim of returning “accreditation to its original function as a mechanism for quality assurance and improvement,” the report asks lawmakers to adopt several changes to the Higher Education Act as they work through its first reauthorization since 2008.

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Some Illegal Immigrants Will Get Free College Tuition in Minnesota

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by Benjamin Rothove   Illegal immigrants in Minnesota will soon get free college tuition if their families are below a certain household income level. The “North Star Promise” program “will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a ‘last-dollar’ program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied,” according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education summary. That includes illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, according to the education department. The legislation goes into effect for the fall 2024 semester. The “Adjusted Gross Income” must be “below $80,000,” according to the Office of Higher Education. The College Fix emailed state senator Omer Fateh, one of the bill’s sponsors, twice in the past four weeks to ask for comment on the legislation. Fateh did not respond to questions about potential violation of federal law, concerns about pulling resources away from other students and potential incentivization of illegal immigration. “We’ve been seeing declining enrollment on all campuses,” Fateh said during debate over the legislation. “If we don’t do something quick, we’re at risk of shutting down some campuses. … I see this bill as an enrollment driver.”…

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Pennsylvania Governor Drops School Voucher Push over Opposition from Teachers Unions

Just the News

Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro says he plans on dropping his push for private school vouchers from the state budget amid opposition from teachers unions and members of his own party.

The budget passed the state House and Senate on Wednesday after discussions had been deadlocked on the $100 million voucher program, local outlet Spotlight PA reported. 

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Findings from Teacher Retention Listening Tour

TC Weber

Last week, the Tennessee Department of Education released a report based on its recently concluded teacher retention listening tour. The report lists the top findings as, better professional development, better pay/benefits, a desire for more collaboration, and more leadership support. 

In compiling their report, the TDOE had over a thousand Tennessee teachers express interest in providing input and feedback. The department used a random sampling method to talk with 100 of those teachers, placing them in 10 separate cohorts. The TDOE secured representation from each region, grade level, district and school type, and years of service.

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Florida State Guard Graduates First Class of over 100 Soldiers

The Center Square

by Bethany Blankley   The Florida State Guard welcomed its first graduating class of more than 100 soldiers who recently completed their training program and requirements. They are the first class of members of the Florida State Guard since 1947. Gov. Ron DeSantis first proposed reestablishing the State Guard in December 2021. Within months, he reestablished it to lessen the burden of an understaffed and over-stretched Florida National Guard and to hire servicemen and women being forced out of the U.S. military over the federal vaccine mandate, he said. By June of last year, over 1,200 people applied to join the new state guard – three times the amount of open positions. One of its newest recruits was a former New York resident who said he moved to the lower-taxed and less regulated “free state of Florida.” “I am proud to welcome the first class of Florida State Guard members since 1947,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Even though the federal government has underfunded our National Guard, we are ensuring that we have the manpower needed to respond during emergencies. I’m proud of these men and women who answered the call to take on this important mission. When the need is greatest in their…

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Commentary: Randi Weingarten Is the Last Person to Give Advice on School Safety

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Straight from the “No matter how cynical I get, I just can’t keep up” file, it was recently announced that American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten has been appointed to the Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council. According to the Homeland Security website, the HSAPC will “provide strategic and actionable recommendations to the Secretary on campus safety and security, improved coordination, research priorities, hiring, and more.”

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) vented his frustration with the appointment, tweeting that Weingarten “is the last person who should be advising anyone on school safety.”

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Tennessee Department of Education Funds 32 School Districts with Perkins Reserve Grants

Kaitlin Housler

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) recently announced that 32 school districts across the state have been awarded funds from the Perkins Reserve Grant (PRG) to support career and technical education (CTE) for the 2023-24 school year.

Tennessee’s CTE consists of “16 nationally recognized career clusters with the ultimate goal of preparing students for success at the postsecondary level and in their chosen careers.”

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National Labor Union Data Contradicts Pennsylvania Teacher Exodus Claims

The Center Square

Teacher compensation across Pennsylvania grew over the past decade, despite claims from officials that low salaries and high stress scare educators from the state in droves.

The data, gleaned from a recent report from the National Education Association – one of the country’s largest labor unions – found that teachers in Pennsylvania earned an average of $73,072 during the 2021-22 school year – the 11th highest rate in the nation.

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White Penn State Professor Who Resisted Race-Based Grading Files Discrimination Lawsuit

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Pennsylvania State University employees racially discriminated against a white professor who resigned in opposition to race-based grading and diversity trainings that argued white people are racist, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

Zack De Piero, who taught English at the school’s Abingdon campus, left in 2022 after working there for four years, according to the suit, which describes his departure as a “constructive termination,” arguing the school more or less forced him to resign.

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Florida Restricts Chinese Communist Party’s Influence on College Campuses

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Florida public universities will have a harder time accepting grants or working with the People’s Republic of China and other “countries of concern” due to a recently enacted law.

Senate Bill 846, which became effective on July 1, prohibits “state universities and state colleges from accepting grants from or participating in partnerships or agreements with a college or university based in a foreign country of concern or with a foreign principal unless specified conditions are met,” according to the legislative summary.

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Defiant Harvard Vows to Continue to Use Race in Admissions Decisions

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Harvard University said it plans to continue to use race as a factor in admissions in the wake of the 6-3 Supreme Court decision last week that ruled affirmative action enrollment decisions are unconstitutional.

A June 29 memo to the Harvard community from President Lawrence Bacow and more than a dozen deans and provosts cited a line in the ruling that states colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

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Constitutional Experts Welcome Supreme Court’s Takedown of Affirmative Action but Warn of Universities’ Attempts at ‘Workarounds’

Susan Berry, PhD

Many of those who are applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday that struck down affirmative action are also warning that universities that have been steeped for decades in “equity” and “diversity” ideology are not likely to go quietly.

“My elation regarding the opinion’s vindication of the rule of law and  rejection of racial discrimination is tempered somewhat by the fact that the Left began preparing for this result a couple of years ago by abandoning objective admissions measures such as the SAT, etc., Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said in comments to The Star News Network following the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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Tennessee K-12 Students See Overall Improvements in TCAP Test Scores

The Center Square

Tennessee students saw improved scores in all four subject areas of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test in data released by the Tennessee Department of Education.

That included an overall 1.6 percentage point increase in students scoring proficient in English Language Arts (38.1%), 3.2 percentage point increase in math (34%), 3.4 percentage point increase in science (43.2%) and a 0.5 percentage point increase in social science (43.2%) scores.

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Ohio Professor Reprimanded by University After Giving Student ‘Zero’ for Using ‘Biological Women’ on Assignment

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University of Cincinnati administrators reprimanded professor Melanie Nipper earlier this month for violating the free speech of a student when she gave her a zero on an assignment, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Student Olivia Krolczyk released a viral TikTok video discussing how she was given zero points for a section of her project for using the term “biological women” in her Gender in Popular Culture course, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Krolczyk submitted a Freedom of Speech claim with the school which resulted in Ashley Currier, head of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at UC, issuing the reprimand to Nipper on June 14, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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Supreme Court Ban on Affirmative Action Expected to Prompt ‘Workarounds’ to Favor Some Races

Just the News

Two decades ago, the Supreme Court purportedly put limits on racial preferences in college admissions: no stereotyping of minority viewpoints or policies that “unduly harm” non-minorities, plus a 25-year ticking clock to wind them down.

Not only is there “no end in sight” to race-conscious admissions with five years left, but selective colleges can’t even explain how courts would evaluate the constitutionality of their programs under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday, casting a pall over the use of race in settings far beyond higher education.

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Biden Education Secretary Claims Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling ‘Takes Our Country Decades Backward’

Susan Berry, PhD

Secretary of the U.S. Education Department Miguel Cardona reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the use of race in weighing college admissions with the claim the ruling “takes our country decades backward” because such discrimination based on the color of skin has served as “a vital tool that colleges have used to create vibrant, diverse campus communities.”

Cardona said in a press statement the Court’s 6-3 ruling Thursday in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College is “yet another blow to the fight for equal opportunity.”

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Biden’s Multibillion Dollar Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

Just the News

In a landmark ruling with implications for the 2024 election, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that the Biden administration does not have the authority to unilaterally cancel hundreds of billions in student loan debt. The ruling was a major rebuke of President Joe Biden’s political efforts to court young voters with large college debts, and sets a fresh battle ahead of the next presidential election. It also was the latest of several major court rulings that chided the administration for trying to impose regulatory powers that Congress did not give the executive branch.

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Former Mississippi Governor Points to Success of Legislation Leading State’s Fourth-Graders to Become Top Reading and Math Achievers

Susan Berry, PhD

Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) is celebrating the “comeback story” of his state’s fourth graders, who ranked on 2022 national test scores as the nation’s top performers in reading, and second in math, following the enactment of literacy legislation he spearheaded that saved the state from its “dead-last ranking in the United States.”

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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Reneges on Hosting Republican Event After ‘Doing Research’ on Group

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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University rescinded its agreement to host a College Republicans United convention “after doing research” on the group.

Richard Thomas, founder of the group, told The College Fix that the event was to be located at the university’s “Lower Hangar” at its Prescott, Arizona campus for three hours and cost a total of $630.00 for media, support and cleanup.

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Taxpayers to Give Prisoners $130 Million Worth of College Aid

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An expansion of federal student aid for the 2023-2024 academic year will cost taxpayers $130 million per year in grants to prisoners for higher education, according to The Associated Press.

The Biden administration’s expansion of the taxpayer-funded federal Pell Grant program, a program for low-income college students, will give 30,000 prisoners a total of $130 million in student financial aid for the upcoming academic year, according to the AP. The expansion is part of the Second Chance Pell Experiment from the Biden administration that is testing the benefits of providing Pell Grants to prisoners in order to reduce recidivism, according to a Department of Education (DOE) press release.

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Tennessee Comptroller’s Office Releases Updated Data on K-12 Education

TC Weber

The Tennessee Comptrollers Office released last week updated interactive online maps and dashboards related to the state and K-12 education. The dashboards and maps allow citizens to access information on both private and public schools for the 2021-2022 school year.

Included are data on teacher salaries, student enrollment, educational attainment, school building quality, and state and local funding available for Tennessee’s public schools and school districts.

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College Board Refuses to Revise Courses to Follow New Florida Law Restricting Sex, Gender Instruction

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The College Board refused to revise its Advanced Placement courses in response to new Florida laws limiting school instruction on controversial sexual topics.

The board, a nonprofit that produces the SAT and Advanced Placement programs, “will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level topics,” it stated in a recent news release.

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‘Gender-Affirming’ Pediatricians Help Kill Maine Bill to Prohibit Children’s Social Transition at School Without Parental Consent

Susan Berry, PhD

With the help of pediatricians from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Democrats in the Maine House and Senate killed a bill Friday that would have prohibited public school staff from helping children to socially transition to another gender by allowing them to use new names and pronouns without written consent from parents.

LD 678 was defeated by house Democrats by a vote of 76-52, and by senate Democrats, 20-12.

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MNPS Announces New Principal and Executive Assignments for Upcoming School Year

TC Weber

When the 2023/2024 school year opens for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) there will be 23 new principals employed by the district. A slightly higher number than in previous years, due to several veteran principals choosing to either retire or accept a position with a surrounding district. In some instances, MNPS has chosen not to renew a seated principal’s contract. 

On Friday, the district revealed upcoming assignments for the new school leaders. They also named three new executive leadership placements, including one for the district’s long-term chief spokesman.

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Republicans Lament Failure to Include Lifeline Scholarships in Pennsylvania Budget So Far

Bradley Vasoli

Just four days remain until June 30, Pennsylvania’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget deadline and much still divides Republicans who control the state Senate from Governor Josh Shapiro and his fellow Democrats who control the House of Representatives. 

The school-choice debate is among the most concerning facets of budget negotiations so far for the GOP. Shapiro indicated last year that he wanted the commonwealth to create “lifeline scholarships,” i.e. a private-school choice program for economically disadvantaged students in poorly performing schools. Republicans hoped they could coalesce with him around the policy’s enactment.

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Arizona State University Sees Scrutiny over Conservative Event Backlash

The Center Square

An Arizona lawmaker wants the state’s collegiate governing body to investigate why an Arizona State University employee lost her job shortly after organizing an event featuring conservative speaker. 

State Rep. Austin Smith, R-Surprise, wrote to the Arizona Board of Regents on June 21 following the decision by ASU to terminate the employment of administrator Ann Atkinson.

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Teachers Union Had Hotline to Education Secretary on COVID Policy, Parents Had ‘No Voice’: Watchdog

Just the News

The country’s two largest teachers unions had direct access to the Education Department during the pandemic while parents had “no voice,” says a watchdog group of retired and former public servants.

Michael Chamberlin, the director of the group, Protect the Public’s Trust, made the claim in a recent episode of the “John Solomon Reports” podcast, saying research found “extensive coordination between … the two main teachers unions and high-level officials in the Department of Education,” namely the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

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Children’s Hospital Charges Schools Thousands For Trainings On How To Teach About Gender Identity, Anal Sex

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An Illinois children’s hospital is charging school districts thousands of dollars for a sex education workshop that features lessons on how to teach kids about anal sex and gender identity, according to documents obtained through a public records request by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is charging school districts up to $1,500 for a presentation to educators on “inclusive sexual health ed practices” that promotes the National Sexuality Education Standards (NSES), a K-12 sexual education curriculum, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by the DCNF through a public records request. The presentation recommends that fifth graders should learn several different sexual orientations, while eighth graders should be taught about anal and oral sex.

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Academics: Allowing Kids to Opt Out of Drag Storytime Is a ‘Dangerous Setback’ for Gay Rights

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A pair of academics affiliated with York University in Canada believe that allowing parents to opt out their children from drag storytime events is a “dangerous setback for 2SLGBTQ+ human rights education.”

Writing in the Toronto Star, Beyhan Farhadi, a fellow at York’s Institute for Research on Digital Literacies, and “community educator”/York M.Ed student Joy Henderson say the Toronto School Board’s decision to allow opt-outs from the “family-friendly” activity “sends a message that [queer] rights are debatable.”

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Professor: Ron DeSantis Is a Racist for His ‘Freaks of Nature’ Basketball Comments

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis noted in an interview that he preferred baseball over basketball partly because the latter is played by guys who are “just freaks of nature.”

Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network, the 2024 GOP presidential candidate said baseball is a “thinking man’s game” that requires special skill sets, Newsweek reports.

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Pennsylvania Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Inform Parents of Sexual Content in Schools

Bradley Vasoli

A lawmaker is urging his colleagues to back a bill he is sponsoring to ensure Pennsylvania parents get notified when sexually explicit content is distributed in their children’s K-12 schools. 

State Representative Russ Diamond (R-Jonestown) announced he will introduce a companion bill to a Senate measure authored by Senator Ryan Aument (R-Lititz). The legislation would mandate that schools note sexually explicit texts and other media assigned or displayed as part of students’ coursework. The bill would further instruct schools to tell parents when a book their child accesses from their school library features sexually frank content. 

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