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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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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 | Jason Bedrick
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  • 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 | Kristen Eichamer
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • opinion

    I Was Thrown Out of a School Board Meeting for Asking a Question
    PENDLETON, Ind.—I was kicked out of a public school board meeting Thursday night in this Indiana town because I asked a board member to provide details concerning a claim he made about a source in my prior article.  The board of the South Madison Community School Corporation held a public meeting to vote on the…
    Tony Kinnett
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  • opinion

    BREAKING: Indiana Student Counselor Fired for Condemning School District’s Hidden Transgender Policy
    PENDLETON, Ind.—An Indiana school district fired a student counselor Thursday night for confirming and condemning the existence of a secret transgender policy that keeps parents in the dark about their children’s “gender transitions.” Kathy McCord worked as a counselor at Pendleton Heights High School for 25 years before the school board voted unanimously to terminate…
    Tony Kinnett
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  • news

    BREAKING: Yard Signs Supporting Pro-Parent School Counselor Stolen
    Police in Pendleton, Indiana, have confirmed that they are investigating the theft of several signs from the yards of community members in support of a suspended counselor. These signs, which say “Keep Kathy” (pictured below) indicate community support for Kathy McCord, a counselor who is currently suspended and facing termination by the South Madison Community…
    Tony Kinnett
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  • opinion

    Fighting Back Against the ‘School-to-Scalpel Pipeline’ With Ian Prior
    OXON HILL, Md.—America First Legal filed a lawsuit last week demanding documents from the Food and Drug Administration regarding how strictly the FDA monitors the use of so-called puberty blockers and other hormone drugs for so-called gender-affirming care. Ian Prior, the legal organization’s senior adviser, explained his group’s efforts against the transgender movement in an…
    Tyler O’Neil
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  • news

    Schools Are Pushing Gender Pronouns and Hiding It From Parents
    A new report reveals students in the nation’s largest school districts are encouraged to change their names and pronouns without parental knowledge, even though those same schools require parental approval for over-the-counter medicine. The report, released by the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, found that “eight of the nation’s 20 largest school districts allow students…
    John Ransom
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  • opinion

    How One Conservative Governor Can Raise His Grade on School Choice
    You’d think that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp would be getting more national attention, given his solid record of conservative accomplishments. But if he wants to be touted as an exemplar of conservative governance, he needs to fill one gaping hole in his otherwise sterling résumé: school choice. Since he was elected governor in 2018, Kemp…
    Jason Bedrick
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  • opinion

    While ‘WWIII’ Trends on Twitter, God Moves on College Campuses
    Russia is suspending the last nuclear arms treaty with America. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are preparing to meet. North Korea is again testing its ballistic missiles. Ukraine has been at war with Russia for a year now. Meanwhile, “WWIII” was trending on Twitter earlier this week.  The millennial generation, of…
    Virginia Allen
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  • opinion

    State Legislative Push for School Choice Gains Momentum Nationwide
    Two years ago, 2021 was declared “The Year of Education Choice,” when 19 states enacted 32 new or expanded education choice policies. This year could be even bigger, as more states consider making choice policies available to all K-12 students. In 2021, West Virginia became the first state to enact a publicly funded education choice…
    Jason Bedrick
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  • news

    ‘Truth Will Win Out’: Fox’s Hegseth Poses Classical Education as Cure for Public School Indoctrination 
    Parents should recognize classical education as an alternative to critical race theory-ridden public schools, says Pete Hegseth, “Fox and Friends” TV co-host and author of the 2022 book “Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation.”  In a conversation with the president of The Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, on “The Kevin Roberts Show” podcast, Hegseth explained…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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  • news

    Loudoun County School Board Shoots Down Motion to Release Rape Investigation
    The school board in Loudoun County, Virginia, voted on Tuesday night to keep the findings of an independent report on sexual assault private. The report, compiled by the law firm Blankingship and Keith, focused on how the district responded to two sexual assault incidents at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021. The 15-year-old “gender…
    Tony Kinnett
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  • news

    Black Lives Matter at School Brings ‘Trans Affirmation,’ ‘Restorative Justice’ Training to Elementary Classrooms 
    Black Lives Matter at School is using Black History Month to teach children about gender ideology, critical race theory, and reparations.   Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action—Feb. 6-10 this year—began in 2016 to teach “people of all ages to engage with issues of racial justice.” Events and curriculums promote Black Lives Matter's 13 guiding principles…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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  • opinion

    EXCLUSIVE: Indiana Lawmakers Fight Back Against Schools’ Hidden Transgender Policies
    At least four school districts in Indiana have flooded their communities with controversy in the past year by pushing radical transgender agendas. Now, state lawmakers are fighting back to clearly outline and protect parental rights.  Indiana state Rep. Jake Teshka and state Sen. Jeff Raatz, both Republicans, have introduced two bills that would forbid any…
    Tony Kinnett
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  • opinion

    Childhood Obesity Epidemic Calls for Cutting Screen Time in Schools
    As the American Academy of Pediatrics issues new guidelines recommending the radical solutions of weight-loss drugs and even surgery for curbing childhood obesity, it’s worth revisiting an obvious but largely ignored treatment for poor health: turning off the screens. Screen time skyrocketed for children during the COVID-19 pandemic—by 52% according to some studies and closer…
    Rachel Alexander Cambre
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