Category: Education

Group That Pushed SCOTUS to End Affirmative Action ‘Gravely Concerned’ Elite Colleges Aren’t Complying with Ruling

Daily Caller News Foundation
Supreme Court

The Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) sent letters Tuesday to Yale, Princeton and Duke questioning the universities’ compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action and threatening litigation.

The letters said SFFA is “gravely concerned that these schools are not complying” with the June 2023 landmark Supreme Court case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, in which the Court ruled race-based admission practices to be unconstitutional. Suspicions were raised by many over the admissions policies of the elite universities after the student demographics for the class of 2028 revealed little change compared to the previous year when the schools followed affirmative action policies.

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Six Juveniles Arrested Since Sunday over Online Terroristic Threats Made to Alabama Schools

Admin

A total of six juveniles have been arrested and charged with making terroristic threats that sent shockwaves through the River Region over the weekend after multiple social media posts making violent threats to surrounding schools flooded social media.

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New England Christian Schools Ask Appeals Courts for Justice Against State Discrimination

Just the News
Bangor Christian Schools

Christian schools in New England are fighting for their right to participate in state-run programs without compromising their beliefs, including that sex trumps gender identity, sexuality is reserved for heterosexual marriage and Christianity is the only path to salvation.

Public interest law firms announced appeals of lower court decisions in favor of Maine and Vermont in the 1st and 2nd U.S. Circuit courts of appeal on behalf of Crosspoint Church, which runs Bangor Christian School, and Mid Vermont Christian School and a family whose children attend there.

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Elite Universities Ranked Lowest for Free Speech, Report Finds

Daily Caller News Foundation
NYU Students

Some of the most prominent elite universities in the nation have been ranked lowest for freedom of speech, according to a report released Thursday.

Harvard, Columbia, New York University (NYU), the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and Barnard College make up the bottom five in a free speech ranking of 251 universities, according to a report by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and College Pulse. The report cited several incidents of “suppression of free expression” at the schools, including disruption of events and sanctions on students and staff for expressing their views as the reasoning behind the schools’ low rankings.

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33 Percent of K-12 Students Behind Grade Level

American Greatness
Teacher and Student

A recent study shows that roughly one-third of American K-12 students in the 2023-2024 academic school year are behind their grade level in a variety of subjects.

As Axios reports, the data was compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) through their “School Pulse Panel,” a survey of almost 4,000 grade schools that are considered nationally representative. The data from June of 2024, taken from the responses of 1,651 schools, shows that there has been virtually no change from the 2021-2022 school year, when 33% of students were learning at a level that was below their actual grade.

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Professor Paid $2.4 Million to Settle First Amendment Retaliation Suit Goes After HR Chief’s New Contract

Just the News
Matthew Garrett

A month after Matthew Garrett secured a $2.4 million settlement from the Kern Community College District over termination proceedings for the “dishonesty” of disagreeing with colleagues on diversity issues and “unprofessional conduct” of questioning the data used to create a “racial climate task force,” the former Bakersfield College tenured history professor isn’t done yet. 

He has started a campaign to pressure the KCCD Board of Trustees to rescind a contract extension and pay boost for the human resources official who oversaw his proceedings, citing newly obtained sworn testimony of the colleague who he says sicced students on Garrett with racially charged complaints that were “ultimately found to be baseless” – and used class time to do it.

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Climate Change Classes Should be ‘Mandatory’ in Med School, Doctor Says

The College Fix
Lisa DelBuono, MD

Climate change courses should be “mandatory” for aspiring doctors, according to medical students and clinicians in Michigan.

“My personal opinion is that it should be mandatory,” Dr. Lisa DelBuono told The College Fix via email. “Climate change has been politicized, but it is not a political issue… It would be irresponsible to not prepare future practitioners for the realities they will be facing.”

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The U.S. ‘Hates Women,’ Faces Future of Cannibalism, ‘Forced Breeding Camps,’ Arizona State University Professors Posit

The College Fix
ASU Professors Jenny Irish (r) and Angela Lober (l)

Two professors discussed dismantling capitalism and electing a female president to restore reproductive rights, and warned of a dystopian future with “cannibalism” and “forced breeding camps,” at an event held Wednesday at Arizona State University.

“Jenny Irish’s HATCH: A Speculative Future for Reproductive Rights” was held both in person and via Zoom.

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Two-Time Failed Presidential Candidate Chris Christie to Teach Ivy League Course ‘How to Run a Political Campaign’

Daily Caller News Foundation
Chris Christie

Former Republican New Jersey Governor and failed presidential candidate Chris Christie will teach a course at Yale University on how to run for office, according the description.

Christie, who was governor from 2010 to 2018 and dropped out of the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections, will teach “How to Run a Political Campaign” during the fall 2024 semester, according to the catalog. The course offers one credit for students, is taught once a week and is offered as an elective.

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Commentary: In with Teacher Apprenticeships, Out with Colleges of Education

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Teacher and student

Two persistent problems beset American schools.

First, teachers must leave the classroom and become administrators or counselors to earn above the standard teacher salary.

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Cell Phone Bans, Restrictions Are on the Rise in School Districts as Mental Health Concerns Arise

Just the News
Kid on Cell Phone

Mental health has been widely discussed in the public sphere over the past few years, specifically how technology may play a role in it particularly for young people.

Recently, districts in different states have been implementing restrictions and bans on cell phones in schools in order to tackle the mental health crisis rising among teenagers and young adults. 

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Tim Walz Signed a Law Creating ‘Ethnic Studies’ Requirements Extending to Elementary School Students

Daily Caller News Foundation
Tim Walz with children in classroom

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz signed a law in May 2023 as Minnesota governor that will require schools to offer “ethnic studies” courses that may include lessons on “resistance” and discussions on “social identities.”

The law requires elementary and middle schools to teach ethnic studies classes by the 2027 to 2028 school year, while high schools must offer a course on the topic starting in the 2026 to 2027 school year, though some districts have already begun implementing ethnic studies programs. The program is described as an “interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity” and says it will emphasize “perspectives of people of color” and analyze “the ways in which race and racism have been and continue to be social, cultural, and political forces.”

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University of Pennsylvania Temporarily Bans Encampments

The Center Square
UPenn Students participating in a pro-Palestinian protest

In response to pro-Palestine unrest on campus last semester, the University of Pennsylvania has temporarily banned encampments and overnight demonstrations for the 2024-2025 school year.

“To ensure the safety of the Penn community and to protect the health and property of individuals, encampments and overnight demonstrations are not permitted in any University location, regardless of space (indoor or outdoor),” the university announced in its policy book’s section entitled Temporary Standards and Procedures for Campus Events and Demonstrations section.

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Commentary: Cell Phone Bans in Schools Is a Growing Trend

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Student with Cell Phone

Navigating the complexities of smartphone use in K-12 education is a collective effort that requires ongoing adaptation as technology evolves. We expect the Tennessee General Assembly to draft legislation on this issue in the next session. There is an increasing push to safeguard young individuals from spending too much time in front of screens.

States and public school districts are advocating cellphone bans in schools, driven by concerns about distractions and their adverse effects on student well-being. This growing trend should not just be about restrictions but about creating a more focused and conducive learning environment. Teacher buy-in is critical to this process.

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University of Kentucky to Shut Down DEI Office

American Greatness
University of Kentucky Campus

In the latest blow for the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement, the University of Kentucky has announced that it will be shuttering its DEI offices.

As reported by Breitbart, the University of Kentucky follows multiple other schools in Texas, Florida, and Alabama who have already taken the step of shutting down official DEI practices on-campus, where school administrators would facilitate the discrimination of student applicants and faculty hires on the basis of race and gender.

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Asian Enrollment Explodes at Elite University Following Race-Based Admissions Ruling

Daily Caller News Foundation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) freshman class for this year has a significantly larger share of Asian American students than in previous years following a recent Supreme Court ruling, according to a first-year class profile released Wednesday.

The share of Asian-American students enrolled at MIT increased from 41 percent in the 2024-2027 classes to 47 percent for the class of 2028. The enrollment data is the first since the Supreme Court struck down race-based admissions in June 2023 due to lawsuits brought up by Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

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Professors Sue to Overturn Florida’s New Post-Tenure Review Law

The College Fix
Law professor Steven Willis

Three Florida professors have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2023 state law subjecting public university faculty to mandatory post-tenure review every five years.

The scholars argue the law “imperils academic freedom” and enables the Florida legislature to “usurp the exclusive powers and duties” of the state university system’s Board of Governors granted to it by Florida’s constitution.

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Commentary: Irresponsible School Districts Force Teachers to Create Amazon Wish Lists

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Teacher

For several weeks, social media has been flooded by teachers’ posts with Amazon wish lists, soliciting others to stock their classrooms with basic supplies. Creating these lists has been commonplace in recent years as teachers look outside their schools and districts to fill their supply needs.

Some of the most popular requested items are dry erase markers, Kleenex, Lysol wipes, erasers, tape, pens, colored copy paper, file folders, and pencil sharpeners. Others request educational items such as a microscope, map, or globe, which seem essential for student learning.

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Commentary: Vo-Tech Education is Taking Off, and It’s Not Your Dad’s Shop Class Anymore

RealClearWire
Students in Butler Tech classroom

Jon Graft is on a mission to reignite the passion for learning by pushing a long-denigrated  classroom practice: vocational education.

The superintendent of the Butler Tech District of high schools in Ohio is a leader in the growing movement to revive public education, marred by low test scores and high absenteeism, through a hands-on approach to learning that prepares students for careers in today’s tech-driven economy. Traditionally a means of funneling disadvantaged kids into outdated shop classes and dead-end jobs, vocational education is being reimagined by Graft and others in sophisticated career and technical education (CTE) programs nationwide, offering high school students of all academic abilities training in healthcare, computer science, engineering, skilled trades, and even the arts.

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Red State Schools Reluctant to Follow Mandate Requiring Bibles Be Taught in Classrooms

Daily Caller News Foundation

Oklahoma school districts have not changed their curriculum despite a mandate requiring the Bible to be taught during the 2024-2025 school year, according to the New York Times.

Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters mandated in June that all schools are required to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, in the upcoming school year. The school districts in Oklahoma have been slow implementing the mandate, as some teachers stated that there has been no direction, the NYT reported.

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Commentary: Diversity Is a False Religion to Destroy America

American Greatness
A group of college students stuying

This week, the National Association of Scholars (“NAS”) and the Heritage Foundation are sponsoring a panel discussion on diversity ideology in higher education. A number of reports have recently been published on the topic, with most documenting monies spent by state universities on “diversity, equity and inclusion” (“DEI“). The Maryland affiliate of the National Association of Scholars released the most recent such report this summer, but the Virginia affiliate issued one last year, while Idaho, North Carolina, Maine, and Tennessee produced similar documents before that.

The Maryland report reminds state officials that “diversity” is usually a cover for race-based practices that are now likely illegal under the 2023 United States Supreme Court case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (or “SFFA”). That opinion found that racial preferences in university admissions were a violation of federal civil rights laws and also the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause. SFFA means that any race-based practice in college is presumptively unlawful. As the Court said, “Eliminating discrimination means eliminating all of it … distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry are by their nature odious.”

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Case Could Make Unenforceable a Law That Prohibits Schools From Disclosing Gender Transitions to Parents

Just the News
Aurora Regino in front of Chino Unified School District building (composite image)

A California mom’s lawsuit against the school district that helped her daughter identify as a boy without her knowledge could block the enforcement of a new California law that mandates schools hide students’ so-called gender identities from parents.

The Center for American Liberty first filed a lawsuit against Chico Unified School District in January 2023 on behalf of Aurora Regino, whose 11-year-old daughter “socially transitioned” at school and started identifying as male. The district has what the lawsuit calls a “Parental Secrecy Policy,” requiring Chico schools to socially transition students upon their request, regardless of parental support and without consent.

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College Students Lack ‘Rudimentary’ Knowledge of History, Civics: Survey

The College Fix

College students lack a “rudimentary grasp” of American history and government, as displayed in a civic literacy assessment recently conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

The 35-question survey, “Losing America’s Memory 2.0,” asked more than 3,000 students from all 50 states questions about history and government, including Senate term lengths and a quote from the Gettysburg Address, according to ACTA. The survey was conducted in June by College Pulse.

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Commentary: Cell-Phone Free Classrooms Will Unleash Student Success

RealClearWire
Students on Cell Phones

Amid the many battles over how to improve American schools, it’s often forgotten that what’s taught in the classroom is but one component of ensuring that students receive a high-quality education; it’s also important to remove barriers to children’s learning.

And the idea to remove one major impediment – cell phones in K-12 schools – has gained significant traction over the past year, most recently in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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Commentary: Tim Walz’s Radical Education Record

RealClearWire
Tim Walz

The National Educators Association, the largest teachers union in America, is “fired up” for Kamala Harris’s VP nominee, Tim Walz. “Gov. Walz is known as the ‘Education Governor,’” wrote NEA President Becky Pringle, “because he has been an unwavering champion for public school students and educators, and an ally for working families and unions. As a high school teacher and NEA member, Walz is committed to uplifting our public schools.”

The NEA’s endorsement should be worrisome for Americans who are actually concerned about the state of education in this country: for years, the NEA has put radical politics above children.

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Most Law School Students Say Social Justice More Important Than Winning in Court: Poll

The College Fix

About two out of every three law school students believe social justice is more important than obtaining a winning result for a client, according to the results of a recent survey of current law school students conducted by the Buckley Institute.

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Police Confirm Investigation After Swastika Graffiti Left on Property Owned by Pennsylvania Boarding School

Tom Pappert
FarmerJawn

Pennsylvania police department confirmed it is investigating after a swastika was spray painted on the floor of a barn owned by the private Westtown School but rented by the FarmerJawn regenerative organic farm.

An August 6 press release published on Monday by the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department confirms FarmerJawn owner Christa Barfield called officers after an employee discovered “a swastika had been spray painted on the floor of one of the barns that she leases from the Westtown School.”

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New President of American Association of University Professors Says J.D. Vance is ‘Fascist’

The College Fix
Todd Wolfson

The new president of the American Association of University Professors recently referred to Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance as a “fascist.”

In an August 8 statement, Todd Wolfson, a Rutgers University anthropologist whose research “is a mixture of traditional and cyber-based ethnography,” took issue with Vance’s claim that universities are the “Enemy” and are “dedicated to ‘deceit and lies, not to the truth.’”

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Commentary: Chronic Absenteeism Is a Problem, but Most Proposed Solutions Miss the Point

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Classroom

Two weeks ago, three unlikely bedfellows joined forces to announce their intention to cut K-12 chronic absenteeism in half by 2029.

The right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, the left-leaning Education Trust, and the nonprofit organization Attendance Works revealed their plan in Washington, DC. The coalition hopes to combat chronic absenteeism, defined as students missing 10 percent or more of school days in a given academic year, by implementing a variety of initiatives, including home visits and similar interventions. Chronic absenteeism rates more than doubled during and after the Covid response. The goal is to reduce these rates to pre-pandemic levels, or around 13 percent.

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Male Students Do Better on ACT, Get Less Financial Aid

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Male College Student

The gender gap in higher education is growing – and it may be due to how universities admit students and help them pay for school.

Men earn 42 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 38 percent of master’s, and 44 percent of doctorates, according to the American Institute for Boys and Men.

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Christian and Conservative Professors Divided over Louisiana’s New Ten Commandments Law

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Jeff Landry

Political science professors at conservative and Christian colleges are split over the constitutionality of a new Louisiana law that requires all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The law already faces a legal challenge from several families as well as left-leaning and atheist activist groups while Christian and conservative Louisiana lawmakers applaud the law.

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‘Beholden to Teachers Unions’: NEA and AFT Donated over $135K to Walz, Who Backs Their Far-Left Agenda

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Tim Walz

Teachers unions are among the largest donors to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats’ vice presidential candidate, giving over $135,000 to his campaigns for governor and, before that, Congress.

Walz, who once taught high school social studies, sides with teachers unions instead of everyday Minnesotans, some parents say.

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Commentary: Social-Emotional Learning Is Hurting Students

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Sad Student

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been in vogue in education circles for decades. Following its precepts, teachers, counselors, and administrators encourage students to look inward and focus on their feelings. The result?

A generation of young people who can’t stop thinking about their emotions, leaving them incredibly fragile. But that’s not what many of the experts will tell you.

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Commentary: DEI Litmus Tests Must End

RealClearWire

Ideological litmus tests have no place in higher education. They weaponize loyalty and contradict the university’s purpose of fostering academic inquiry and informed debates. Scholars cannot pursue truth or progress if they are denied academic jobs based on their devotion to a specific political ideology or philosophy. 

I applaud states like Florida, Alabama, Wyoming, Tennessee, and Texas that have banned varied Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements that mandate loyalty to its agenda. But we need to go further. Congress can deny federal funding to universities that impose DEI on faculty, administrators, and staff. Conservative lawmakers are already trying to “dismantle” DEI in the federal government and others are currently weighing defunding universities over Title VI violations. They should extend defunding to universities that require DEI. 

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Commentary: The Reckoning Has Come for K-12 Sex Abuse, and You the Taxpayer Are on the Hook

RealClearWire
High School students in the classroom

The teenage female athletes at California’s Pomona High School said they felt special when a handful of coaches there took them under their wing, spending more time with them than others, providing extra encouragement, sharing personal stories and, sometimes, seemingly harmless flirtatious talk.

One track team member was amazed at a Nevada meet when she saw the coaches drinking, smoking marijuana, and sharing the party scene with teammates. But that attention turned to tragedy at a subsequent meet in Las Vegas when a coach brought the 16-year-old to his hotel room, plied her with alcohol, and, she says, raped her.

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Acquitted Former Student Sues Fifteen Groups for Defamation After They Called Him a Rapist

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Saifullah Khan

A former Yale University student who defeated claims of rape is continuing his legal battle to seek justice.

Saifullah Khan is suing fifteen organizations including the National Women’s Law Center, the Fierberg National Law Group, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute, along with attorney Jennifer Becker, for “defamation, false light, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and abuse of process action.”

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Penn State Trustee Sues to Get Records on $5 Billion Endowment

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Barry Fenchak

A Penn State University trustee who ran on a fiscal responsibility platform says he has been denied access to financial records about its $5 billion endowment.

Now, after facing a “runaround” for years, Trustee Barry Fenchak said he is suing the university in an attempt to gain access to the documents.

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University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Suspends Groups After Saying Israel Supporters ‘Not Welcome’ and to ‘Stay Tuned’

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Pro-Palestinian protesters at UWM

Five pro-Palestinian groups at the University of Milwaukee are currently suspended and under investigation following an Instagram story.

The chancellor’s office wrote it was “alerted to an Instagram story on the uwm4palicoalition account that included intimidating language aimed at Jewish community members and organizations on campus that support Israel.”

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Commentary: Bias Lurks in Study Linking Bronchitis in Children with Poor Air Quality

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
People wearing masks

A new study by a team of University of Southern California researchers claims that children exposed to poor air quality are at greater risk of (self-reported) bronchitis symptoms than are adults. But this health claim is tenuous.

Published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the study uses data sets from a 30-year-old Southern California Children’s Health Study cohort—with a long length of time between exposure and presumed response of self-reported bronchitis.

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Parents Petition Denver Schools to Stop ‘Seal of Diversity’ Program

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Denver East High School

A Denver high school allows students to take classes such as Queer Literature and Gender Studies to earn a “Seal of Diversity” award.

Students can submit a short, five-minute application to be part of the program, then take “diversity, equity, and inclusion”-related classes and engage with a DEI-related club or organization on campus to receive the award, according to documents obtained by The Daily Signal through a Colorado Open Records Act request.

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Migration Influx Impacts Pennsylvania Schools Disparately

The Center Square
Classroom Teaching

An influx of undocumented migrants into the U.S. strains services in many cities and presents challenges to public school systems, affecting the quality of education and imposing new costs on taxpayers.

In Pennsylvania, specifically, the worsening struggle was just one of several issues of inequity that lawmakers say leaves many students, native and non-native speakers alike, behind.

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Parents Outraged School District Forces Children to Room with Trans Students on Overnight Trips

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Students in a Southern California school district could be forced to choose between rooming with a transgender-identifying student or missing out on an overnight school field trip.

If parents complain about their child rooming with a transgender-identifying student of the opposite biological sex, staff in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District listen to the parents’ concerns, then say that the child’s rooming assignment isn’t the parents’ choice, according to emails from 2021 and 2022 obtained by the Center for American Liberty and shared with The Daily Signal.

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20 Universities Still Require Students Get COVID Vaccine

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Man getting bandaid on vaccination shot

Twenty United States colleges continue to require their students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the watchdog organization No College Mandates.

These mandates face increasingly heavy criticism from medical doctors and scholars who point to concerns regarding the vaccine’s safety, efficacy, and necessity.

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Aspiring ‘Teachers of Color’ Program Gets $1.1 Million in Taxpayer Funds at Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Teacher with classroom of students

The University of St. Thomas will “increase the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics…teachers, particularly teachers of color, who work in the community,” with the aid of $1.1 million in taxpayer dollars.

The Catholic university in St. Paul received the federal grant with the assistance of Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Congresswoman Betty McCollum, according to a news release.

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Commentary: The Beginning of the Revolution Our Kids Need

RealClearWire

A revolution is underway. Parents, physicians, and principals have seen the devastation inflicted on an entire generation of children raised on screens, and they are taking bold steps to end “phone-based childhood.” Politicians are joining the cause, too, with Congress on the brink of passing bi-partisan legislation to protect kids online – the first significant law of its kind in nearly 30 years. The catalyst for this revolution is Jonathan Haidt’s new bestselling book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

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Historian Turned Lawyer Finds Second Career Suing ‘Ridiculous, Clearly Out of Control Universities’

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff
Michael Thad Allen

“These universities are so arrogant and so disrespectful of their taxpayers’ wishes and, quite frankly, their money, that it’s infuriating.”

So says Michael Thad Allen, once a tenured history professor who found a second career as a lawyer defending college students and faculty against “hallucinatory” accusations from what he calls “Campus Cloudcuckooland.”

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Poll: Voters, Parents Opposed to AI in Schools over Cheating Concerns

The Center Square
Person on Computer

The majority of likely voters say artificial intelligence shouldn’t be in schools because it makes it too easy to cheat, new poll results show.

The Center Square Voter’s Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights found that over two-thirds of likely voters say they think AI should stay out of schools.

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