Education News
Reports on education reform, school choice, and classroom policies. The Daily Signal provides conservative commentary and opinion alongside education news.
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- Opinion
EXCLUSIVE: This Jewish Cancer Counselor Got Fired For Objecting to an Anti-Trump DEI Assignment. Now, She’s Suing.
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A veteran social worker who says she was fired for expressing concern over racial harassment against her as a Jewish woman and political harassment over her ties to the Trump administration is suing for wrongful termination. Tammy Weitzman last week sued her former employer, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, now known…Tony Kinnett -
- Opinion
This National School Choice Week, Let’s Celebrate Return to Founding Principles
The school choice policies sweeping the nation may be among the most innovative—and promising—enacted in recent memory. Yet they also embody a return to principles first enshrined in American law nearly 400 years ago. In 1642, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony crafted the nation’s first education law, its objective was clear: Parents must educate their…Rachel Alexander Cambre -
- Opinion
The Empire Strikes Back During National School Choice Week
National School Choice Week begins Sunday after the school choice movement’s most successful year ever and with the promise of more momentum going forward. But not everyone is celebrating. A highly organized, well-financed coalition of two dozen national and local left-wing advocacy organizations, teachers unions, and associations of government bureaucrats have teamed up to fight…Jason Bedrick -
- Opinion
Moms for Liberty Hosted a Town Hall in NYC About Its Failing Schools. Here’s What I Saw.
Moms for Liberty held an event in New York City on Thursday night to discuss and diagnose the woeful state of education in the Big Apple. Residents and local representatives were invited to take part in the education organization’s town hall on the Upper East Side and the follow-up discussion. Moms for Liberty has been…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
State Lawmakers Are Freeing Colleges From DEI’s Racial Bias
State lawmakers continue to unravel the thread of discrimination leading to university bureaucracies committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This spring, prepare for more legislators to cobble together provisions that protect students and college employees from DEI’s racial bias. Last year, public officials in five states—Florida, Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin—adopted proposals that put university…Jonathan Butcher -
- Opinion
Will Education Choice Momentum Continue in 2024?
National School Choice Week begins on Sunday, and this year, there’s much to celebrate. In 2023, the school choice movement made more progress expanding education options than ever before. The Year of Education Freedom saw seven states pass new education choice policies and nine states expand existing choice policies. There are now nine states with…Jason Bedrick -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Majority of Americans Oppose Using Preferred Pronouns in Schools, Report Finds
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: A majority of Americans oppose the use of preferred pronouns in schools, according to a report released Tuesday by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The Becket Fund’s Religious Freedom Index findings revealed a reversal in attitudes toward leftist school pronoun policies requiring that children and school employees address each…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
Can Higher Education Be Rescued From Grip of DEI?
Claudine Gay resigned Jan. 2 as Harvard’s president following outrage over antisemitism at the Ivy League school and amid claims that Gay plagiarized in her academic writings. Her resignation provides higher education institutions an opportunity to reconsider the leftist agenda-laden waters most “elite” colleges and universities swim in. As more people realize the true agenda…Virginia Allen -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Overnight School Program Accused of Assigning Boys to Sleep With Girls
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Joe and Serena Wailes revealed last month that their 11-year-old daughter was assigned to share a bed with a boy who identifies as a transgender girl on an overnight school trip. Their story has led to more parents coming forward with similar allegations, according to a new demand letter first obtained…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
How to Get Better Teachers in America’s Schools
Twenty years ago, when I was hiring teachers for the private K-12 school I founded, I knew better than to recruit certified teachers. From my previous work as a college history professor, I know that the people least prepared to teach a subject are education majors. Requiring an embarrassingly low minimum of credit hours to be certified…Kevin Roberts -
- Opinion
DEI Is Alive and Well, America. Don’t Think Gay’s Resignation at Harvard Means Battle Over.
Harvard University’s embattled president resigned Tuesday, but it would be a mistake to think that the troubles of that school or higher education in general are over. Harvard President Claudine Gay’s disastrous testimony and serial, blatant plagiarism were certainly good reasons to give her the boot. The Harvard Corporation Board, which decides who will be president of…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
EXPOSING DEI: Inside the Pressure Campaign That Finally Ousted Claudine Gay as Harvard’s President
Claudine Gay ended her tenure Tuesday as the shortest president in the history of Harvard University, yet her resignation statement didn’t acknowledge the scandals that led to her ouster—instead suggesting that racism was to blame. The incident arguably illustrates the effectiveness of conservative critics in drawing attention to Gay’s many scandals, and the fecklessness of…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Feds Add George Mason University to List of Schools Under Scrutiny Over Antisemitic Incidents
George Mason University—located in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.—has been added to a list of dozens of institutions of higher education under federal investigation for antisemitism on campus since the Hamas massacre in Israel occurred in early October. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced on Dec. 22 that it…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
It’s Up to the American People to Fix Higher Education
American institutions of higher education won’t reform on their own. The recent explosion of antisemitism on college campuses has made many Americans—including high-profile donors—turn against modern academia. How could our schools be filled with so many frothing antisemites who hate Jews, hate America, and hate the West? This has prompted many to understand the depth…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
Wisconsin Supreme Court Rejects Anti-Choice Position on Schooling
Liberal activist Kirk Bangstad’s Minocqua Brewing Co. SuperPAC on Oct. 12 filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court that sought to dismantle the state’s popular school choice programs and shutter the state’s independent charter schools. Bangstad hired international law firm Perkins Coie LLP—armed with more than $1 billion in revenue and 1,120 attorneys—to take…Dean McGee -
- News
Oklahoma Becomes Latest State to Condemn DEI on Campus
Criticism continues to mount against so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion offices on college campuses. And the list of state policymakers calling for defunding the offices and eliminating their discriminatory practices is also growing—just in time for state legislators to work on the issue in the new year. The latest lawmaker to prohibit the use of taxpayer spending on DEI…Jonathan Butcher -
- News
Rep. Jim Banks Demands Answers About Butler University’s DEI Investigation Into College Republicans
Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and an Indiana congressman, has issued a letter to Butler University demanding answers over its investigation into Butler’s College Republicans chapter. “Your investigation not only risks having a chilling effect on students’ free speech, but reasonably could lead outside observers, including…Tony Kinnett -
- News
Male Might Get Volleyball Scholarship Meant for Female Athletes at University of Washington
A California transgender volleyball player may become the first biological male recipient of a collegiate Division 1 athletic scholarship designated for women. Tate Drageset, 17, verbally committed to the University of Washington, where Drageset is poised to claim one of 12 Division 1 volleyball scholarships designated for female players, Reduxx first reported on Dec. 13. …Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Catholic All-Girls College Reverses Trans Policy After Backlash
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, is backtracking on its decision to allow men who identify as transgender women to enroll in the formerly all-female, Catholic institution. The Daily Signal reported in November that Saint Mary’s College would allow men who identify as women to enroll at the college…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Missouri School District Offers Coloring Pages on Preferred Pronouns, Gender Expression to Kindergartners
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A Missouri school district is providing elementary-school teachers with coloring pages, asking children as young as kindergartners to choose their pronouns and draw the corresponding hair and clothing. Webster Groves School District Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Shane Williamson emailed administrators a resource list of “Gender Identity and Expression Activities”…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell