Education Policy & School Reform News

This section covers K12 policy, school board elections, curriculum transparency, parental rights, school choice, charter and voucher programs, and state and federal rules that shape classrooms. The Daily Signal includes news reports, analysis, commentary, and opinion pieces to explain how these decisions affect students, families, and educators.
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    • Opinion

    Education Around the Country Looks Different This School Year. Here’s What Parents Need to Know.

    Jennifer Wolverton has a plan for her child’s education: A great laptop, software programs for practicing writing and designing artwork, piano lessons, and art classes. She is also looking for education therapy sessions for help with ADHD and dysgraphia (difficulty writing by hand). But that’s just for ninth grade. She has plans for her student’s…
    Jonathan Butcher
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    • News

    Schools, Universities Bringing Back Mask Mandates, Shutdowns

    Schools and universities around the U.S. are bringing back mask mandates and shutdowns as COVID-19 numbers rise, according to public records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Runge Independent School District in Texas, Magoffin County Schools in Kentucky, Lee County School District in Kentucky, and Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Maryland are all reimplementing some form of COVID-19…
    Brandon Poulter
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    • Opinion

    Parents’ Nightmare Shows It Matters How States Implement School Choice

    Editor's note: This article has been corrected to reflect that we were not able to reach Christine Accurso prior to publication. (We reached out to Ms. Accurso's former place of work and a phone number provided to us.) At the end of this article, we have added Ms. Accurso's full response. This article has also…
    Tony Kinnett
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    • News

    School District Speaks Out After Pro-Trans AG Sues to Block Parental Notification Policy

    School districts in the Sacramento area of California are considering policies requiring schools to notify parents if their children claim to identify as transgender, despite California Attorney General Rob Bonta's lawsuit challenging one such policy. "Every school district in our area is considering such a policy," Jonathan Zachreson, a member of the Roseville City School…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • News

    Over 1,000 School Districts Hide Students’ Gender Identities From Parents

    A new report sounds the alarm on the growing number of schools embracing transgender ideology and keeping parents in the dark. According to Parents Defending Education, at least 1,040 U.S. school districts have adopted policies instructing or encouraging faculty and staff to keep students’ gender identities a secret from parents. Those districts include over 18,000 schools responsible…
    S.A. McCarthy
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    • Opinion

    Sending Public Officials Who Censor to Free Speech School

    With no opportunity to mount a defense, Maggie DeJong was banned by her university from speaking to three classmates because she expressed views those classmates opposed. With no defense of its own to mount when DeJong sued the school for violating her free speech rights, Southern Illinois University agreed to settle, paying her $80,000. The…
    GianCarlo Canaparo
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    • Opinion

    Back to (What Kind of) School: Education or Indoctrination?

    As millions of children return to public school, it’s a good idea to again examine what they are being taught and what is being left out. It also offers an annual opportunity for parents to ask if their kids are being educated or indoctrinated. At the recent convention of the National Education Association in Orlando,…
    Cal Thomas
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    • News

    School District Allowed to Keep Child Gender Transitions From Parents, Court Rules

    A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a Maryland school district can continue to keep students’ gender transitions from their parents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit dismissed a coalition of parents’ lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools alleging that the district’s gender support plan, which allows students to change their gender without their…
    Reagan Reese
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    • News

    VINDICATED: School Board Fails to Sweep Dad’s Rights Under ‘Legal Rug’ After It Had Him Removed From Meeting

    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A U.S. district court judge in Texas upheld a father's claims that school board members and police violated his constitutional rights when they forcibly removed him and prevented him from attending school board meetings in 2021. Police removed him after he spoke at a school board meeting, raising concerns about the…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • News

    School System Shuts Down as Students Stranded on Buses After First Day Back

    After a long first day of school Wednesday, hundreds of students in Louisville, Kentucky, were stuck on school buses until almost 10 p.m. The school system announced a complete closure of schools Thursday, including canceling all extracurricular activities on the second day of school, because of what it called “transportation issues.” Parents are outraged over…
    Tony Kinnett
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    • News

    Ruling Against Middle Schooler Punished for Wearing ‘There Are Only 2 Genders’ T-Shirt to Be Appealed

    The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a “notice of appeal” after a federal district court in Massachusetts ruled that a middle school in Middleborough, Massachusetts, has the right to prohibit a student from wearing a “There are only two genders” T-shirt to school.  “We look forward to showing the court how this isn’t just about…
    Gigi De La Torre
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    • News

    Coach to Return to High School Football Field After 7-Year Court Battle Over Prayer There

    After a seven-year legal battle that ended with a victory at the Supreme Court, Joe Kennedy will be back on the field Sept. 1 coaching football and taking a knee in prayer.   “I have been looking forward to this since the 2015 season,” Kennedy told The Daily Signal Tuesday. “I am praying for a fantastic…
    Virginia Allen
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    • News

    Federal Judge Dismisses Parents’ Lawsuit, Lets School Allow Boys to Use Girls’ Bathroom

    A federal judge ruled Monday that an Ohio school district’s policy that allows students to use the bathroom on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex may stand. In 2022, a coalition of parents, represented by America First Legal, sued Bethel Local Schools, alleging that the district’s policy was enacted without community input…
    Reagan Reese
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    • Opinion

    Milton Friedman’s Vision in Education Becomes Reality

    On the occasion of his “eleventy-first” birthday, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins famously disappeared. On July 31, we celebrate what would have been the 111th birthday of another man who was diminutive in size but larger than life in spirit: Milton Friedman. Were he to reappear today, he would likely marvel at how much progress has…
    Jay Greene
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    • News

    ‘GENERATIONAL LEARNING LOSS’: Experts Reveal the Full Extent of COVID-19 School Closures

    A generation of American students has fallen behind academically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the forced school closures that took place during that time. A subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce addressed the problems created by school closures Wednesday in a panel called “Generational Learning Loss: How Pandemic…
    Jarrett Stepman
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    • News

    Pro-LGBTQ Radicals Threaten to Kill, ‘Dismember’ School Board Chief Over Parental Rights Policy

    A local school board president in California has been inundated with threats that left-wing activists will dismember her, kill her children, and slaughter her pets. Her crime? Saying that teachers should not keep parents in the dark if their children begin to “identify” as transgender. The new Chino Valley (California) Unified School District Board of…
    Ben Johnson
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    • News

    ‘Unacceptable and Irresponsible’: GOP Congresswoman Raps NYC Mayor’s Plan to House Illegal Aliens in Schools

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams is under fire after announcing tentative plans to house illegal aliens in public schools over the summer.   “Our schools and educational resources should be dedicated to our children, not diverted to support unvetted migrants who are entering our country illegally,” Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., told The Daily Signal….
    Virginia Allen
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    • Opinion

    New Book Details Teachers Union Internal Document Pushing Critical Race Theory in K-12 Schools

    Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from a new book detailing the rise of government unions, their stranglehold over public policy, and how to defeat them. Aaron Withe’s “Freedom is the Foundation” explains why every American should be concerned about government unions using our tax dollars and union dues to push their radical ideology on…
    Aaron Withe
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    • Opinion

    Ohioans Declare Independence From the District School Monopoly

    Just in time for Independence Day, Ohio families can finally declare independence from the district school monopoly. Over the weekend, Ohio lawmakers passed a state budget that expands eligibility for the state’s EdChoice Scholarships to all K-12 students. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law on Monday, making Ohio the eighth state in the…
    Jason Bedrick
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    • News

    Canadian Province Bars Planned Parenthood From Schools Over Graphic ‘Sex: From A-Z’ Cards?

    Is this what Planned Parenthood means when it says it provides more than just abortions? Planned Parenthood of Regina, Saskatchewan, in Canada brought "SEX: From A-Z" sexual topics cards to ninth graders there last week as part of a presentation about sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, and more. The sexually graphic cards had not been approved…
    Elise McCue
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