Public Education

“Unfortunately, what should be a simple, principled pitch for conservatives…has been undermined by right-wingers who have seemingly done what they can to inhabit left-wing caricatures.” - The Dispatch

“The National School Boards Association has apologized for a letter that called on the Biden administration to investigate whether alleged threats against school-board members constituted domestic terrorism.” - N.Review

“Last week, the executive director of curriculum and instruction in the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, told teachers that a new state law required them to present multiple perspectives about ‘widely debated and currently controversial’ issues. This means that they needed to make “opposing” views on the Holocaust available to students.” - RNS

“A judge has ordered a Virginia school district to reinstate an elementary school teacher who was placed on leave after criticizing a proposed policy that would require him and other teachers to use the preferred names and pronouns of trans-identified students.” - C.Post

“After receiving a demand letter from the First Liberty Institute, officials at Hillsdale High School relented after pressuring student Elizabeth Turner to alter the valedictory speech for her June 6 graduation ceremony.” - C.Post

“In many schools, meditation advocates have reframed religious practices such as meditation and yoga as secular to avoid legal challenges.” - RNS

“While the recently signed legislation, HB 377, does not ban the teaching of critical race theory, it prohibits all public schools, including institutions of higher education and school districts, from teaching that ‘any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.’” - C.Post

“The board had moved to forge ahead with a controversial plan to change the names of 44 schools that honor figures [allegedly] linked to historical racism or oppression.

“In an address of sweeping historical breadth that quoted everyone from T.S. Eliot and Ronald Reagan to Russell Kirk, Secretary DeVos corrected two widespread misconceptions about U.S. education. First, she exposed the dichotomy between government-run education and family empowerment through choice.

“Some schools are preparing for the worst. Los Angeles and San Diego are opting for a completely virtual start to the year. …Other districts are working on hybrid plans….Uncertainty, it seems, appears to be the only certain thing around.” - WORLD