As the first day of school nears across Pennsylvania, the undone budget will leave the poorest districts without the earmarked funds the state promised.
Teachers, administrators, and advocates recently told the House Education Committee that without the money, schools can’t address worker shortages, or provide mental health support, programs for pandemic-induced learning loss, technology upgrades, and building maintenance.
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Two Republican Ohio State Senators said that the recent resignation of the interim superintendent of Public Instruction is an opportunity to overhaul the state education system and the Board of Education.
On Friday, Ohio’s interim state superintendent, Stephanie Siddens, announced that she is leaving her job after nearly two years and is set to take a job as deputy superintendent of the Upper Arlington City School District.
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Scrutiny of Stanford Law School is growing after it refused to discipline students for repeatedly disrupting a conservative federal appeals court judge and even pledged to prevent judges from identifying them by blurring their faces from a video it was paid to make.
House Education Committee Republicans asked the American Bar Association (ABA) in a Friday letter to investigate whether the school was out of compliance with ABA accreditation conditions based on its treatment of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan.
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Arizona State Senator J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) shared in his weekly update to constituents that his bill, aimed at ensuring school districts comply with the state transparency laws, is moving along through the Legislature.
“Given the importance of having transparency with such a critical topic as teacher pay, I sponsored a bill (SB 1599) that would add some teeth to the law and instruct the Arizona Department of Education to engage if a school district is not in compliance. The bill has passed the Senate and is poised for a House Floor vote,” Mesnard said.
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RICHMOND, Virginia – The House Education Committee voted to advance school mask-optional language in a special meeting Friday; Senator Siobhan Dunnavant’s (R-Henrico) SB 739 was the only bill on the agenda.
As introduced in the Senate, Dunnavant’s original bill focused on in-person learning, but earlier this week Senator Chap Peterson (D-Fairfax City) moved to amend the bill to include the masking clause; that vote got broad support from both sides of the aisle. A later vote to pass the amended bill only had two Democrats supporting it, but that was enough to pass out of the Democrat-controlled Senate. On Wednesday, Delegate Amanda Batten (R-York) said that the sudden change surprised Republicans.
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The Virginia Senate passed a bill that will allow parents to opt their children out of wearing masks at school. Democratic Senators Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City) and Lynwood Lewis Jr. (D-Accomack) joined with Republicans to pass SB 739 after the Senate debated the bill for over an hour on Wednesday.
Bill sponsor Senator Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico), an OB/GYN, said during debate, “Two years into this pandemic, keeping unproven measures in place is no longer justifiable. We must evolve; science doesn’t stand still. We did masks and boxes and other things because we thought maybe they might help but they have not proven to do so. I will say further that you have before you a conflict between two constitutional priorities in Virginia. One is that school boards get to decide policy for their districts. But the other is that we are a parental rights state. You’re going to have to choose which authority, ceded by the Constitution, you’re going to stand by today.”
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RICHMOND, Virginia – The General Assembly continues to debate Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order One banning Critical Race Theory and “inherently divisive concepts.” On Wednesday, legislators debated the policy in the House Education Committee, on the House floor, and on the Senate floor. The newly-Republican-controlled House of Delegates has been slow to hear bills in committee, which generated another House floor back-and-forth, but although key anti-CRT bills haven’t been heard in the Education Committee yet, delegates got a jump-start on debating the topic when interviewing Youngkin nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow.
Balow previously served as Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, where she supported anti-CRT legislation.
“I share Governor Youngkin’s priorities for education,” Balow said.
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Senator Siobhan Dunnavant’s (R-Henrico) SB 1303 requiring schools to provide both in-person and virtual learning options is still moving through the House of Delegates, but slowly. Dunnavant’s bill earned bipartisan support in the Senate, thanks in part to support from Senators Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) and Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond.) But a House Education subcommittee initially introduced several amendments to the bill that would effectively leave the status quo intact, prompting opposition from House Republicans
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A bill that removes the Tennessee Department of Education’s ability to administer standardized tests to students in grades K-2 passed the House Education Committee Wednesday.
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The agenda for the two-day State House Education Summer Study released Wednesday includes five bills addressing higher education as well as topics related to K-12 education from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – When presented with an opportunity to hear a bill that would bring accountability and transparency to the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA), nine GOP legislators in the Tennessee House of Representatives– primarily freshmen – voted against it on Tuesday. This, despite the fact that the sponsor of the bill, Representative and House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman Andy Holt (R-Dresden), laid out the details of the special carve-outs that the taxpayer-funded Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) enjoys. Six freshmen GOP legislators–State Representatives Charlie Baum (R-Murfreesboro), Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka), Mark Cochran (R-Englewood), Kirk Haston (R-Lobelville), Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington), and Iris Rudder (R-Winchester)–joined three other GOP legislators– State Representatives Jim Coley (R-Bartlett), David Byrd (R-Waynesboro), and Kevin Vaughan (R-Shelby County)– and four Democrat legislators–State Representatives Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville), Jason Hodges (D-Clarksville), Harold Love (D-Nashville), and Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis)–in defying the House GOP leadership’s wishes to have Holt’s bill recalled for consideration by the full House Education Committee. The final vote in the committee was 13 against recalling the bill, and 8 in favor of it. The bill failed in the House Education Administration Subcommittee last week, largely through an administrative oversight. The Tennessee Star has featured several reports on the taxpayer-funded TSBA…
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As Governor Bill Lee’s legislation on Education Savings Accounts is set to be voted on by the full House Education Committee on Wednesday, March 27, the Tennessee Republican Party calls for support of his education plan. The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) sent a personalized email Friday saying, “We need your help!” “Governor Lee and Tennessee’s students are counting on us!” The TRP said that Governor Lee “has put forward a bold, conservative plan to ensure that every child in Tennessee has access to a high-quality education.” To help the Governor’s agenda and show support for school choice, the email includes a link to send an automatic email to the respondent’s legislator. The link connects to page with a heading “Show your support for Education Savings Accounts,” and a quote from Governor Bill Lee, “We’re not going to get big results in our struggling schools by nibbling around the edges. That is why we need Education Savings Accounts in Tennessee, this year.” The page goes on to explain ESAs: Education savings account programs (ESAs) give parents greater opportunity to use their state education dollars to find the best learning environment for their children ESAs can be used for school tuition and…
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