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

    In the Midst of a Natural Paradise, a Deserted Federal School Fails Children

    In a remote village, deep down in the Grand Canyon, visitors will find one of the world’s most amazing environments. Havasu Canyon is best known for its stunning waterfalls and breathtaking blue green waters, which attract thousands of tourists every year. What visitors will also find is a federally run school that is closed much…
    Romina Boccia
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    • Opinion

    The Answer to Failing Schools? Give Students ‘Backpacks Full of Cash’

    Imagine you are Jeanne Allen—who joined me recently on “Common Ground”—and you’re a longtime educational reformer, and you’ve coined this phrase, “backpacks full of cash.” And the phrase is catching on because it truly captures an exciting idea in American education—the notion that, instead of appropriating giant sums to school systems, we, in effect, give…
    Bill Walton
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    • Opinion

    The False Ideas Intellectuals Peddle at College Campuses

    As George Orwell said, “some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.” Many stupid ideas originate with academics on college campuses. If they remained there and didn’t infect the rest of society, they might be a source of entertainment, much in the way a circus is. Let’s look at a few stupid ideas…
    Walter E. Williams
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    • News

    Nearly 30% of Public School Teachers Are ‘Chronically’ Skipping Classes, Study Says

    Almost 30 percent of public school teachers are “chronically” skipping classes, according to a new study. Over 28 percent of public school educators miss 11 or more school days each year, discovered a report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education policy nonprofit think tank. The study, released Wednesday, found that public school teachers are three times…
    Rob Shimshock
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    • Opinion

    I’m a Conservative College Student. The First Amendment Is Dying on Campuses Like Mine.

    As a conservative columnist for my campus newspaper, it’s not unusual for me to be derided and accused of hate by leftist students. Some have been calling for my firing ever since I started writing. I’m a mainstream conservative-libertarian. Apparently, that is beyond the pale. Campuses are lively places, full of debate on political, social,…
    Bradley Polumbo
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    • News

    9th Circuit Blocks Praying Coach’s Push to Get High School Job Back

    The Supreme Court could be the next stop for a high school football coach after a federal appeals court said a Washington state school district acted properly in firing him for praying in public after games. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Joe Kennedy “took advantage” of…
    Ken McIntyre
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    • Opinion

    Put Parents in Charge of Education, Not Government

    After three court battles, two legislative sessions, and an outside legal bill of over $500,000, we have yet to achieve what parents in Nevada want: the right, and financial ability, to oversee their children’s education. The lesson is one for the entire country. What went wrong? The Republican governor and Democratic-led legislature’s unwillingness to spend…
    Dan Schwartz
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    • News

    University Reverses Decision to Ban 9/11 Memorial on Lawn

    Southern Methodist University has reversed a decision to ban the display of a 9/11 memorial on a campus lawn, after students objected. The university changed its policy regarding display locations Wednesday after meeting with several student groups, according to The Daily Campus and statements obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Displays on the north end of…
    Rob Shimshock
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    • Opinion

    Is College Education Worth It?

    August is the month when parents bid farewell to not only their college-bound youngsters but also a sizable chunk of cash for tuition. More than 18 million students attend our more than 4,300 degree-granting institutions. A question parents, their college-bound youngsters, and taxpayers should ask: Is college worth it? Let’s look at some of the…
    Walter E. Williams
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    • News

    K-12 School Agrees to Gender Inclusion Policy With No Notice or ‘Opt Out’ for Parents

    After facing a lawsuit over its treatment of a kindergartener who identifies as transgender, a nationally recognized public charter school in Minnesota has agreed to adopt a far-reaching inclusionary policy. The school also agreed to pay the child’s parents $120,000. In the settlement, Nova Classical Academy promised to establish a gender inclusion policy that doesn’t…
    Kelsey Bolar
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    • News

    8-Year-Old Sues Private School Over Gender Identity

    An 8-year-old student identified as transgender is suing a private school in Orange Country, California, for failing to let the child express a preferred gender identity. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 2, alleges that Heritage Oak Private School violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation, because it wouldn’t allow Nikki Brar to wear…
    Grace Carr
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    • News

    Harvard Professor Says School President’s Agenda Is Moving on From ‘Truth’ to ‘Change’

    A Harvard University professor asserted that the school president is abetting the “slow decline” of the university from an institution seeking “truth” to one pursuing “change” in statements published Tuesday. Harvard government professor Harvey Mansfield denounced President Drew Faust’s approach, as well as the school’s grade inflation, in the August print edition of Boston Magazine, segments of…
    Rob Shimshock
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    • News

    Unions Trying to Shut Down STEM School Before It Even Opens

    Unions are trying to shut down a proposed Los Angeles state-run science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) school, local media reported Monday. If unions are not successful, the school would become the first state public school to focus on teaching STEM to low-income kids from across the state, according to LA School Report. The bill, AB 1217, authored by state…
    Grace Carr
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    • Opinion

    Why Education Savings Accounts Are the Path to Student Success

    Education savings accounts are a new, groundbreaking effort to provide more educational opportunities to students throughout the country. These are private savings accounts that parents can control and use to pay for their children’s educational expenses. How it works: The state deposits a portion of the money it would have otherwise spent on the child’s…
    Colleen Hroncich
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    • Opinion

    More States Putting Parents in Charge With Education Savings Accounts

    Sarah Greenbank didn’t think she would be able to send her daughter, Ashlee, to anything but an Arizona public school. She didn’t think a private school could help Ashlee’s speech delay and moderate learning needs, or that she could find affordable educational therapy outside of public school services. “I concluded that even if I found…
    Jonathan Butcher
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    • Opinion

    College Trustees Are Largely to Blame for Today’s Campus Madness

    Is there no limit to the level of disgusting behavior on college campuses that parents, taxpayers, donors, and legislators will accept? Colleges have become islands of intolerance, and as with fish, the rot begins at the head. Let’s examine some recent episodes representative of a general trend and ask ourselves why we should tolerate it,…
    Walter E. Williams
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    • Opinion

    Educational Freedom for Our Warriors in the Land of the Free

    When our Founding Fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Continental Congress adopted it on July 4th, 1776, they declared themselves a nation built on the principles of human freedom and limited, representative government. For years, they fought the British and gave their lives to confirm this independence. Now, 241 years later, our military…
    Anne Ryland
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    • Opinion

    New Studies Show a Consistent Result: Private School Choice Works

    Time heals all wounds—except, it seems, in the research world. Opponents of parental choice in education, like publicly funded K-12 scholarships and vouchers, are not satisfied by new research findings showing that private school choice is working. It’s not enough that students using a voucher to attend private school are catching up to their peers…
    Jonathan Butcher
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    • Opinion

    Supreme Court Lays Solid Foundation for School Choice Growth

    This week, the nation’s highest court made two decisions that could profoundly affect the future of educational freedom in the United States. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer that the state of Missouri violated the Constitution when it excluded Trinity Lutheran’s preschool, because of its religious…
    Lindsey Burke
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    • Opinion

    This School Board Leader Tried to Rig a Public Forum in Favor of Transgender Advocates. That’s Unconstitutional.

    Stacking the deck at the casino makes for bad feelings among friends. Things get more serious when you’re a government official stacking the deck at public forums with speakers in favor of your personal political views. That not only makes for bad public policy—it violates the First Amendment. The Prince William County Virginia School Board…
    Caleb Dalton
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