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.
Filter articles by
    • News

    State Officials Share Wins on Life, Election Integrity, Education

    OXON HILL, Md.—After participating in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case that overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said the credit goes to the entire pro-life movement. “We did this together,” Fitch told the crowd at The Heritage Foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration event on Thursday….
    Fred Lucas
    Read More
    • News

    Education Reform Group, Communism Watchdog Receive Heritage Foundation Innovation Prizes, Among Others

    The Heritage Foundation awarded five organizations a prize for innovation on Thursday during its 50th anniversary celebration. The Heritage Innovation Prize is an annual award given to successful nonprofits in regard to research, litigation, education, outreach, or communications. Each year a group of recipients is selected and up to $1 million in prize money is…
    Jarrett Stepman
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Opposing Porn in School Makes You Part of New ‘Uptown Klan,’ SPLC Researcher Says

    Do you think parents should have a say in their children's education, that kids shouldn't be judged according to the color of their skin, that parents should know if their children say they identify as transgender, or that books with explicit sexual images should be removed from school libraries? If so, you represent a threat…
    Tyler O’Neil
    Read More
    • Opinion

    UN Population Panel Meeting Implodes Over Push for Radical Sexuality Education for Kids

    A major United Nations meeting has collapsed because of its promotion of radical sexuality education for children. The 56th session of the Commission on Population and Development concluded April 14 with no negotiated outcome between governments, resulting in the failure of yet another multimillion-dollar U.N. session as a result of vociferous opposition to extreme ideological…
    Rachana Chhin
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Medical Schools Look for Activists, Not Healers

    What qualities should medical schools look for in future doctors? Probably academic excellence, experience in the medical sector, loyalty to medical ethics, and good interpersonal skills. These are all characteristics that future doctors should have, but they’re not what medical schools now emphasize. Medical schools are looking for social justice zealots to advance the diversity,…
    GianCarlo Canaparo
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Media Watchdog Group Holds Stanford Law School Accountable After Students, Associate Dean Heckle Conservative Judge

    Judge Kyle Duncan, a conservative on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arrived on the Stanford Law School campus on March 9. He was there to deliver remarks to students at an event hosted by the campus Federalist Society group, but Duncan never had the opportunity to deliver his talk.  Upon entering the lecture…
    Virginia Allen
    Read More
    • News

    House Seeks Testimony From Teachers Union Chief  Weingarten on School Closures During COVID-19

    A House investigative panel wants to hear from Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, about her role in keeping schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, invited Weingarten on Tuesday to testify at a hearing scheduled…
    Fred Lucas
    Read More
    • News

    10 Disturbing Responses by LGBTQ+ Activists After the Nashville School Shooting

    In the 10 days since a transgender individual shot and killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, many LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and progressives have posted insensitive or disturbing images online or stormed state capitols and statehouses.   These activists also threaten to retaliate against those they claim are taking away…
    Tony Kinnett
    Read More
    • News

    ‘Price Comes Down … Scores Go Up,’ Scott Says of Effects of Competition on Education ‘Monopoly’

    Education is a local and state issue, not a federal matter, Sen. Tim Scott says.  In a wide-ranging conversation Wednesday with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts on “The Kevin Roberts Show” podcast, the South Carolina Republican discussed the government’s problematic near-monopoly on education, why taxes should be lowered, and how to have joy in all circumstances, among other…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Parents Bill of Rights Aims to Remind School Boards Who’s in Charge of Kids’ Education

    Last week, I had the honor of helping pass HR 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act, in Congress. Parents have a right to guide their child’s education and to know what’s being taught in the classroom, as moms and dads are reminding school boards across the country. Our legislation puts parents in the driver’s…
    Rich McCormick
    Read More
    • Opinion

    When Will US Education Department Address Anti-American and Antisemitic Biases in Foreign Language Study Programs?

    American interests require experts on international subject matter. We need diplomats, analysts, and spies with expertise in particular languages and cultures. But Congress made a mistake when it entrusted U.S. universities with millions of dollars to produce these experts—people who are supposed to be trained to serve U.S. interests but who often end up working…
    Adam Kissel
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Congressional Probe Confirms Scientific Assessments of Damage of COVID-19 School Closures

    America’s schoolchildren suffered grievously from prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. That was a rare point of consensus at the March 28 hearing of the newly created House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, transcending the standard, tiresome, and transparently partisan criticisms of the Biden and Trump administrations’ pandemic performance. To improve America’s response…
    Robert Moffit
    Read More
    • News

    Liberal Media Pivots School Shooting Response to Defend, Advocate for LGBTQ Community

    In response to news that the Covenant School killer is transgender, liberal media outlets have pivoted their coverage of the tragic shooting to defend and advocate for the LGBTQ community. The startling coverage follows the Monday massacre at the Nashville-based Covenant School, where a biological woman who reportedly identified as a transgender man killed three…
    Mary Margaret Olohan
    Read More
    • News

    Josh Hawley Calls for ‘Hate Crime’ Investigation Into Deadly School Shooting

    Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling for federal authorities to investigate the deadly Covenant School shooting as a federal hate crime. “Yesterday the nation witnessed the vicious murder of small schoolchildren in Nashville, Tennessee,” the senator wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “It is commonplace to…
    Mary Margaret Olohan
    Read More
    • News

    Judge Shouted Down at Stanford Law School: These Incidents Imperil Legal System 

    Law schools should teach students to respect the free exchange of ideas, rather than reinforce their sense of victimhood, said Judge Kyle Duncan of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  Duncan joined GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, on the “SCOTUS 101” podcast to discuss a protest at Stanford Law School,…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Free Speech Should Be Especially Valued at Law Schools. So, Why Isn’t It?

    A Bloomberg Law columnist is upset that students at Yale Law School didn’t protest the First Amendment and shout down an invited speaker, James Ho, a Trump-appointed judge who sits on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 15, Ho spoke at Yale Law School, and according to Vivia Chen’s opinion essay, his…
    Anna Low
    Read More
    • Opinion

    School Choice Primarily Benefits Students Who Weren’t Already in Private Schools

    As school choice sweeps across the country, opponents are getting more desperate in their attempts to stem the tide. Like those who spring October surprises in presidential campaigns, aiming to derail candidates with false but confidently expressed last-minute accusations, opponents of school choice seek to undermine it with a falsehood just as state legislatures gather…
    Jay Greene
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Girls High School Basketball Team Banned From Future Tournaments for Refusing to Compete Against Team With Male Player

    A Christian school’s girls basketball team has been banned from competing in future tournaments after forfeiting a game against a team with a male student who claims to be transgender.  In February, the Mid Vermont Christian School girls high school basketball team pulled out of a game in the girls state basketball playoffs. Head of…
    Virginia Allen
    Read More
    • Opinion

    That Tantrum at Stanford Law School and What to Do About It

    Another day, another tantrum at one of the nation’s top law schools. On Thursday, law students at Stanford (the No. 2 law school in the country) followed the example set by their peers at Yale (No. 1) by shouting down U.S. Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan, preventing him from delivering a lecture to other students…
    GianCarlo Canaparo
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Florida’s Education Choice Opportunity

    Florida long has been a leading state for education freedom and choice. It was no surprise when Florida ranked first in the nation last year in The Heritage Foundation’s inaugural Education Freedom Report Card. “Florida’s schoolchildren are thriving because we invest in our students, and we empower parents to decide what learning environment is best…
    Jason Bedrick
    Read More