Author: BelieveAgain

In recent weeks, Education Week Opinion has received scores of submissions from individuals in the K-12 field reacting to the current state of education in the United States and, in particular, the actions of the Trump administration. As the federal government appears poised to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, the time seemed appropriate to share a sample of those essays from educators, researchers, and advocates. Education Week Opinion reached out to select authors seeking permission to excerpt from their original submissions with the goal of sharing a broad range of viewpoints.Excerpts have been edited for clarity and length. Responses…

More than two months after the federal government terminated dozens of grants for programs aiming to grow the educator workforce, some recipients of those funds still don’t know whether they’ll ever see their money again, and what they’ll do if they don’t.Two separate lawsuits have challenged the Trump administration’s February decision to terminate close to 140 Department of Education grants for teacher colleges, school districts, and education-focused nonprofits. In both cases, federal judges have offered temporary relief to the plaintiffs by ordering reinstatement of their federal money.But both legal challenges are limited in scope, which means court orders in either…

Some Democratic-led states and cities are pushing back on a Trump administration threat to cut education funding over diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, creating a standoff that could test how far the White House is willing to go to press its demands on the nation’s schools.State leaders in Minnesota and New York said they will not comply with an Education Department order to gather signatures from local school systems certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including the rejection of what the federal government calls “illegal DEI practices.” Chicago’s mayor promised to sue over any cuts. California and Vermont told schools…

The prominent conservative group, Moms for Liberty, launched its own “university” in January and now claims more than 7,000 people have participated in its educational events. The Moms for Liberty University, or M4LU, which is not an accredited university, says its mission is to “inform, equip, and empower parents with knowledge, understanding, and practical tools,” according to its site.The program is meant to be a place where parents can take an in-depth look at education issues. “Moms for Liberty was growing at a rapid pace, and our parents have been asking questions, trying to understand a lot of the issues…

Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the Trump administration’s deep cuts to the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday by saying it’s time to “shake it up” and “revamp” some of the agency’s key data collection and accountability functions that have been subject to some of the steepest reductions.McMahon addressed attendees at the annual ASU+GSV Summit here, which has brought together thousands of ed-tech entrepreneurs and other education professionals to discuss K-12 and higher education.Her remarks, in an on-stage discussion with two moderators—Jon Hage, the founder of a multistate charter school network, and Phyllis Lockett, who headed up a charter school…

Philadelphia in recent years has had only two full-time librarians in a school district with 216 schools and 118,000 students. It’s a challenge Debra Kachel, an affiliate faculty member at Antioch University, has been working to solve.Kachel is partnering with the district on a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to study how other urban school systems rebuilt their school library programs and funded training for a new generation of librarians. Using the findings, the plan for the project is to develop a long-term plan to restore school library services in Philadelphia and train school librarians.But…

Organizations representing scholars and researchers are asking a federal judge to order the reinstatement of canceled contracts and laid-off employees at the U.S. Department of Education’s data-gathering and research arm, arguing that the cuts have “functionally eliminated” a congressionally mandated office.The lawsuit, filed on Friday in federal court in Washington, is yet another challenging a massive reduction in force at the Education Department that has touched virtually every office and sliced staffing in half as part of President Donald Trump’s goal to abolish the agency. It also challenges the abrupt termination of scores of contracts that preceded the staff cuts.This…

Several states are urging U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to immediately restore previously approved pandemic relief funding that the Education Department canceled last week, even as her agency doubles down on a new appeal process for states and districts to release funding for projects they, in many cases, have already started.New York will pursue “legal redress” over the department’s “unilateral, unexplained reversal” if McMahon doesn’t withdraw the rule changes she announced on March 28, Daniel Morton-Bentley, the state’s deputy education commissioner, wrote in an email to McMahon on April 2.Education chiefs in Kentucky, Mississippi, and North Carolina have also sent…

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to immediately terminate more than 100 grants under two federal teacher-training programs.The court ruled 5-4 to undo a temporary restraining order issued by a federal district judge in Massachusetts last month that restored funding for 104 grants under the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development programs.The federal government “is likely to succeed” in showing that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to order the grants to continue under a challenge brought based on the Administrative Procedure Act, the majority said in an unsigned opinion in Department of…

The U.S. Department of Education is ordering school districts and states to certify in writing that they’re not using diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, in order to continue receiving federal education funds.In a letter sent out Thursday, the Trump administration gave state education chiefs 10 days to sign a certification saying they’re complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits race-based discrimination in federally funded programs. The certification makes clear that the department, under President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, considers DEI programming to be a violation of the anti-discrimination law.In addition to collecting…