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

    Podcast: 1 Year After Parkland Massacre, Broward County’s School Board Still Failing
    It’s been a year since the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that took the lives of 17 people. Today, we speak with Kenneth Preston, a student journalist from Broward County who helped shine light on the corruption in that school district after the shooting. We ask him about what’s changed, and what hasn’t, since…
    Daniel Davis | Rachel del Guidice
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  • news

    This Charter School Metropolis Now Seeks a Moratorium on Charter Growth
    The Los Angeles Board of Education voted 5-1 on Jan. 29 on a resolution to temporarily halt charter school growth after negotiations were reached with the teachers union. The resolution seeks state approval of a moratorium on charter schools in Los Angeles Unified School District for eight to 10 months to allow for an impact…
    Joshua Q. Nelson
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  • news

    A Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program Will Damage School Choice
    Americans need more education choice, but just as importantly, we need to preserve the invaluable system of federalism that has been at the cornerstone of our republic. During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump called on Congress to “pass school choice for America’s children.” Over in the pages of Education Next, Ira…
    Lindsey Burke | Adam Michel
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  • news

    New Jersey Becomes Second State Mandating Middle Schoolers Learn About LGBTQ Achievements
    New Jersey will be the second state to mandate that middle and high school students learn about LGBTQ contributions. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 1569, which requires schools to adopt curriculums that “accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.” “The Governor believes that ensuring students…
    Neetu Chandak
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  • news

    School Will No Longer Play Sports Games at Christian School Over LGBT Stance
    A self-described “progressive” K-8 school in Washington, D.C., is figuratively jumping through hoops in efforts to avoid playing basketball at a private Christian school in Northern Virginia that espouses traditional Christian sexual morals. The Sheridan School is refusing to play division basketball games at Immanuel Christian School, a private, evangelical school in Springfield, Virginia, affiliated…
    Ginny Montalbano | Peter Parisi
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  • news

    Uptick in States Proposing Bible Literacy in Schools Receives Praise and Pushback
    President Donald Trump drew attention this week to the increase in state proposals requiring public schools to offer Bible literacy classes. “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible,” Trump tweeted Monday. “Starting to make a turn back? Great!” Among the states considering bringing the Bible back to public…
    Joshua Q. Nelson
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  • opinion

    How School Choice Can Flourish in Rural America
    In “No Longer Forgotten: The Triumphs and Struggles of Rural Education in America,” 13 authors deliver unique perspectives on a little-covered topic. Although conversations on struggling schools often center on inner-city communities, rural schools face some of the same difficulties—and some different ones. Rural schools face the same teacher-vacancy issues as urban schools, but those…
    Jude Schwalbach | Emily Maxson
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  • opinion

    Why School Choice Works: It Makes Educators Compete
    School choice is a noble cause. In much of America, parents have little or no control over where their kids attend school. Local governments assign schools by ZIP code. Having choice is better. Whether it’s vouchers, scholarships, charters, private schools, or just having options among public schools, choice makes some schools better because educators have…
    John Stossel
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  • opinion

    Here Are 10 Reasons School Choice Is Winning
    School choice is a growing movement, one that is already lifting thousands of kids across America. The results are tangible. And states are leading the way, giving parents more options in their children’s education than ever before. Here are 10 of the most promising benefits of school choice. 1. School choice is good for student…
    Jude Schwalbach | James Selvey
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  • opinion

    Parents Deserve to be in the Driver’s Seat of Their Children’s Educations
    How your children are educated is probably one of the most important decisions that parents can make. That is why the choice should rest with them and them alone. That’s what National School Choice Week is all about: celebrating policies that put parents where they belong—in the driver’s seat. Case in point: the D.C. Opportunity…
    Kay C. James
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  • opinion

    The Public School Monopoly Forces Kids to Learn Secular Humanism. We Need More Options.
    President Donald Trump issued a proclamation declaring this week, Jan. 20-26, as National School Choice Week. The proclamation expresses concern about performance of U.S. students in international surveys: 24th in reading, 25th in science, 40th in math. And it ascribes the cause of these disappointing statistics to the “consequences of the limitations imposed by a…
    Star Parker
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  • news

    Betsy DeVos Hails Growth and Popularity of School Choice
    Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called it “imperative” that Congress reauthorize a scholarship program in the nation’s capital that allows children from low-income families to attend private schools. “The outcomes for students in D.C. have continued to improve, from the most underperforming district in the country to now one that is on a growth trajectory,” DeVos…
    Fred Lucas
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  • opinion

    I’m a Single Mom From the City. School Choice Has Changed My Kids’ Lives Forever.
    Fifteen years ago, I found myself feeling hopeless and helpless in the nation’s capital. My children’s school situation was dismal. My older kids were academically driven, yet faced a steady stream of challenges. My youngest seemed completely overwhelmed and destined for failure. And when I looked around my neighborhood, I saw the same dismal situation…
    Virginia Walden Ford
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  • opinion

    How School Choice Is Breaking Down Barriers in Puerto Rico
    The new year is bringing exciting developments to Puerto Rico’s education reforms. Not only will the U.S. territory open new charter schools, it will also launch a new pilot private school voucher program in the fall. The need for education reform is most clearly illustrated by Puerto Rico’s National Assessment of Educational Progress results, where…
    Jude Schwalbach
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  • opinion

    How School Choice Is Lifting Thousands of Kids Across America
    It’s amazing how far school choice has come since the first National School Choice Week was held in 2011. That year, 18 states and Washington, D.C., offered 31 school choice programs (vouchers, tax credits, and education savings accounts) enabling some 212,000 students to attend a private school of choice. Today, 65 private school choice options…
    Lindsey Burke
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  • opinion

    Liberals’ Real Problem Is That Christian Schools Exist at All
    It was supposed to be a day celebrating religious freedom in America. Instead, liberals decided to show everyone just how much our First Freedom is at risk. For Christians, who have tried to warn people that these past several years were about a lot more than marriage, the attacks on second lady Karen Pence certainly…
    Tony Perkins
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  • opinion

    Teacher Strike in Los Angeles Underscores Need for Education Choice
    Public school teachers in Los Angeles are on strike, affecting half a million children attending some 900 public schools in the district. Although students in the Los Angeles Unified School District—the second-largest school district in the country—can still access the schools, classes are being taught by substitute teachers while teachers outside are striking. Many students…
    Lindsey Burke
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  • opinion

    The German Government Forcibly Removed These Children From Their Parents Over Homeschooling
    The Wunderlich family wanted to do what thousands of families in America do with no questions asked: educate their children at home. But homeschooling is not allowed in Germany, and the state has relentlessly pursued the Wunderlichs and even seized their children. One morning in August 2013, 33 police officers and seven social workers showed…
    Robert Clarke
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  • opinion

    A Glimmer of Hope in Black Education
    In reference to efforts to teach black children, the president of the St. Petersburg, Florida, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Maria Scruggs, said: “The (school) district has shown they just can’t do it. … Now it’s time for the community to step in.” That’s a recognition that politicians and…
    Walter E. Williams
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  • opinion

    Americans Don’t Agree On Education. That’s Why We Need More Options.
    When it comes to education, Americans are divided on what quality and accountability in our schools actually look like. Although we’re unlikely to all agree anytime soon, increased school choice could help satisfy everyone. Two December surveys from leading education research organizations spelled out the reasons for this sharp divide. One report from Echelon Insights found that…
    Kristiana Bolzman
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