Author: BelieveAgain
A Health and Human Services Department under vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could pull several different levers that result in weakened school vaccination requirements, even though those are set by states.Even if the incoming Trump administration doesn’t make concrete policy moves aimed at weakening vaccination requirements or discouraging vaccines, Kennedy and other health officials aligned with the incoming president have the bully pulpit to further undermine confidence in vaccines at a time when immunization rates have been slipping, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association.“He can begin as secretary speaking negatively about vaccines,…
President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine, and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, would “Make America Great and…
For months on the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to take money from school districts that teach critical race theory, champion a version of American history he sees as unpatriotic, or promote supportive policies and instructional practices for transgender students.In fact, Trump said he would sign an executive order on his very first day back in office to that effect.“We are going to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto the shoulders of our children,” Trump said at a July campaign event in Minnesota. “And…
A federal judge has blocked a Louisiana law that was soon to require a display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the state, ruling that it is likely unconstitutional and is similar to another state’s law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980.The Louisiana law, H.B. 71, “is impermissible under Stone v. Graham,” said U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles of Baton Rouge, referring to the high court decision that struck down a similar Kentucky law that required displays of the Ten Commandments.The judge noted that both laws required such displays on the wall…
President-elect Donald Trump enlisted a star-powered new staffer to mastermind his bid to abolish the U.S. Department of Education: Billionaire tech magnate Elon Musk.Musk’s new role as a chief architect of Trump’s plan to slash and remake the federal government may also have big implications for schools use of technology, treatment of transgender students, work related to kids’ social media use, and what schools’ STEM and career and technical education programs might look like. Trump on Nov. 12 tapped Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and the owner of X (the social media company formerly known as Twitter) to head…
Nearly half of all Americans, including many educators, are still working through their feelings about former President Donald Trump’s victory this week. This is particularly the case for those of us who work with immigrant students in our nation’s public schools.Here are some suggestions for how teachers, schools, and their leaders can move some of those feelings to action:Support StudentsIn theory, no one working in schools should challenge the idea of providing support to our students.However, as the saying goes, “The devil is in the details.”Research has documented the negative impact on mental health and academic achievement that occurs when…
President-elect Donald Trump is moving swiftly to staff his senior team and Cabinet positions, with news already broken about high-profile choices for secretary of state, EPA director, and ambassador to the United Nations.The brisk pace is fueling even more curiosity, speculation, and betting about who Trump may choose to be his education secretary and lead an agency that he has pledged to get rid of. Trump’s secretary will likely support slimming down if not dismantling the Education Department; expanding school choice; slashing K-12 spending; and attacking school districts’ diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.Plenty of GOP lawmakers, state education chiefs, and…
Following the election, those in and around K-12 should reflect shared values and turn down the heat. 2024-11-12 19:14:00 Source link
Half the country is celebrating that their presidential candidate won the election, and I respect the place those citizens are in right now. I, however, am writing this from the perspective of someone who is not on that winning side. As I process how we can move forward and begin to build more unity as a country, I am grieving. I sit in disbelief, with deep sadness and concern.My current work is related to helping education leaders and others decrease political polarization and human demonization. I cannot excuse the words and behaviors of the newly elected president. The rhetoric he…
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up cases about a state constitutional provision barring aid to religious schools and the 2021 controversy about parent protests at school board meetings.As the justices opened their new term Oct. 7, they turned away hundreds of petitions for review that had piled up over their summer recess. The court has important cases of interest to educators on its docket, including about transgender rights and the federal E-rate program for schools. And they may yet take up other cases on gender identity in schools and state aid to religion.But here are the two…