Author: BelieveAgain

When I first heard Bruce Springsteen’s song “Streets of Minneapolis” on the radio in late January, I had to pull over. He sings about winter on Nicollet Avenue. About a city fighting back against federal occupation. About residents standing against smoke and rubber bullets in the dawn’s early light, their voices ringing through the night.And then he names them. Alex Pretti. Renee Good. Two people left to die on snow-filled streets where mercy should have stood.The chorus comes. Springsteen’s voice rises, singing about taking a stand for this land. And then that phrase—the one that lands like a blow: “the…

Three Democratic governors are reconsidering their stances after earlier saying they wouldn’t opt their states in to the first federal program that will direct taxpayer funds to families so their children can enroll in private schools.Govs. Josh Green of Hawaii, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, and Tina Kotek of Oregon previously told Education Week they wouldn’t participate in the school choice expansion included in President Donald Trump’s One, Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed Congress last summer.But since their offices made those initial statements—Green’s office in January and Lujan Grisham’s and Kotek’s offices last August—Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis,…

The U.S. Department of Education has hung a banner of the assassinated right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk on its Washington headquarters alongside historical figures including Martin Luther King Jr. and Booker T. Washington.The banner featuring Kirk is part of a display celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary, multiple news outlets reported Monday.In a Washington Post video, Kirk’s image can be seen along with banners of Benjamin Franklin, King, Washington, Anne Sullivan, and Catharine Beecher.“Recharting the course toward a brighter future for American education,” says one banner hung along with the historical figures’. “Turning the page to the next 250 years of…

The private school choice program, on track to be the nation’s largest when it launches next school year, is facing its first lawsuit, with a parent claiming religious discrimination because of its exclusion of Islamic schools.Applications for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program opened about a month ago for the upcoming school year. But the lawsuit claims state officials have excluded Islamic-oriented private schools from the program, based on an opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton allowing Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock to bar schools based on ties to terrorist organizations and foreign adversaries. The defendants are Paxton, Hancock, who…

The U.S. Supreme Court late Monday reinstated a federal district court decision that said parents have federal constitutional rights to be informed when their children socially transition or express gender nonconformity at school.The apparent 6-3 decision, over a sharp dissent, came after weeks of deliberation on the court’s so-called emergency docket, with the majority saying that religious parents are likely to succeed on their First Amendment free exercise of religion claims challenging California policies that restrain local school personnel from proactively informing parents about a child’s gender identity at school, unless the child consents.“California’s policies … substantially interfere with the…

Undocumented students can attend public schools for free thanks to the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, which held that denying children an education based on immigration status violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause.That ruling remains binding federal law, even as the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the Project 2025 policy playbook shaping much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, published a policy document on Feb. 17 calling on states to intentionally enact laws or rules restricting free public education for undocumented students and calling on the highest court to overturn the landmark decision.In February 2024,…

A full federal appeals court has lifted an injunction blocking a Louisiana law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, saying it needs more information about how the measure will be implemented in practice before it can decide whether the law is constitutional.“We do not know, for example, how prominently the displays will appear, what other materials might accompany them, or how—if at all—teachers will reference them during instruction,” said an 11-7 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans.The 2024 Louisiana law requires displays of a specific Protestant version of the…

The U.S. Department of Education’s research arm needs to be thoroughly overhauled with a focus on making its products leaner, more relevant, and timelier, concludes a long-awaited report released Friday.The report was crafted by Amber Northern, who was brought on last May from the right-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute as a special adviser to review the Institute of Education Sciences’ work. More than 430 public commentators weighed in on a request for feedback on redesigning IES, calling for a quicker turnaround on awarding research grants so findings get into to the field faster. Commenters also said there was a need for…

Congress approved funding dedicated to English learners in the fiscal 2026 federal budget, but failed to increase the program’s total allocation even as the student population continues to grow, and costs associated with educating them rise.States are responsible for covering the basic education of English learners, even if it involves additional costs beyond that of educating non-English learners. The Title III federal program gives money to states, which in turn give money to districts for supplemental expenses, such as teacher training on serving English learners or after-school tutoring programs for these students.Over the last 15 years or so, the total…

Victor Cifuentes wants to be an engineer.If all goes according to plan, he’ll be a first-generation college student. His parents encourage him to attend college, but “I don’t get much advice from them [about] my career field,” said Victor, 16, a junior at Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology, a public high school in Newark, N.J.Instead, Victor has had crucial college and career preparation as one of 43 students in the federally funded Career-Connected High Schools program in the Essex County Schools of Technology district.Through the program, Victor, who’s studying carpentry, enrolled in a writing class, attended financial literacy…