Author: BelieveAgain
How many days should school be in session each year? It depends on where the school is located. And the difference between the shortest and longest academic year in the United States could be as many as 150 hours.Over the course of a typical 13-year, K-12 academic career, those differences mean that students in some states end up receiving one-and-a-half years more of instructional time than their counterparts elsewhere.That’s a key takeaway from new research that examines the findings from 74 studies related to instructional time and student achievement, as well as class time requirements in each state.While American students…
President-elect Donald Trump will come into the White House in January with Republicans in control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, along with a friendly Supreme Court—greasing the skids for him to begin implementing education priorities he and allies laid out in the runup to last month’s election.“We’re now beginning to see the scaffolding, the framework” for much of that to take place, said Kenneth Wong, professor of education policy at Brown University.Wong sees the influence of President Ronald Reagan’s legacy on Trump as he begins his second term: calls for deregulation and sending decisionmaking authority…
The foundation run by Linda McMahon has directed millions of dollars toward education causes over the past two decades, offering a glimpse into the personal priorities of the businesswoman President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to serve as secretary of education.Aside from her university alma mater and a Catholic university in Connecticut where she’s long served on the board of trustees, a charter school network with schools in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island,;and the local Boys and Girls Club that runs after-school and student enrichment programs in Stamford, Conn., have been among the recipients of funds from the foundation run…
Calling for a focus on civics and history in public schools, a House of Representatives education subcommittee on Wednesday laid the groundwork of what could be a Republican Party focus when it controls both chambers of Congress and the White House in January—taking aim, in part, at teaching about racism and gender and sexuality, while eyeing an expansion of private school choice.The hearing—held by the subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education—highlighted continued priorities for the GOP that have played out for years now at the state level, with many Republican-controlled states restricting how teachers can talk about race,…
The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4 took up a major case on medical care for transgender youth, with the potential implications for schools bubbling just below the surface—and at times coming up during the arguments.“If you prevail here on the standard of review, what would that mean for women’s and girls’ sports in particular?” Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh asked U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar, who is challenging a Tennessee law that bars puberty blockers and hormone therapy if they are meant to help transgender minors transition to a gender identity that’s different from their sex assigned at birth.Tennessee…
In January, Rep. Virginia Foxx will pass the chairman’s gavel of the House Education and Workforce Committee to her successor. Foxx, a former community college instructor, college professor, and college president, has represented North Carolina’s 5th District in Congress since 2005. Given that Foxx’s tenure as the committee’s ranking Republican spanned the pandemic, a historic expansion of school choice, heated culture clashes, and campus chaos, I was especially curious to hear her thoughts regarding accomplishments, frustrations, and takeaways. Here’s what she had to say.—RickEditor’s note: This post has been lightly edited for clarity. The opinions expressed here are those of…
The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 2 took up an important case on the regulation of vaping products with candy and fruit flavors that the Food and Drug Administration views as harmful to the nation’s youth.“Seven percent of youth are still using open-tank systems or mod [vaping products], according to survey results from earlier this year,” Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Curtis E. Gannon, representing the FDA, told the justices. “That’s more than 114,000 middle and high school students who are using devices that could use liquids like the ones that [manufacturers in the case] want to market.”E-cigarette use among middle…
The allegations in a recent lawsuit that Linda M. McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the U.S. secretary of education in his new administration, failed decades ago to prevent the sexual abuse of teenage workers when she was CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment are prompting sharply divergent reactions.Some observers argue that the claims in the suit—that McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon, allowed a ringside announcer who was known to abuse the adolescent workers to remain employed at WWE—should be disqualifying for a position that oversees federal education policy as well as the enforcement of students’ civil rights.Others, meanwhile,…
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has tried to revolutionize space travel, the electric vehicle industry, and social media.Next up on his list? School.Musk’s Texas-based private school—Ad Astra, meaning “to the stars” in Latin—has been in development for the past year. Last week, the state child-care regulator granted its permit for the site’s preschool to open in Bastrop, Texas, a city outside Austin that is home to a base for Musk’s company, SpaceX, Fortune reported.The school’s website states that it is accepting applications for the current, 2024-25 academic year for both the preschool, open to children ages 3-6, and the lower-elementary school,…
The Trump administration could enter office in January with proposals to cut, redirect, restructure, and even eliminate key streams of funding for K-12 schools, after four years when schools received more money from the federal government than ever before.Trump and his advisers have also said in recent days that they believe the president should be able to choose not to spend money Congress has approved—potentially paving the way for priorities like withholding funds from schools that Trump says, without evidence, are “pushing critical race theory” and “transgender insanity.” Under current federal law, the president can’t override Congress’ spending decisions, and…