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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- News
With Decree to Bus Drivers, School District Puts the ‘Scrooge’ in Christmas Spirit
A local school district in Pennsylvania acted to forbid school bus drivers from putting up Christmas decorations. On Friday, just over a week before Christmas, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, issued a memo to school bus drivers saying: “If you have decorated your bus with anything specific to the Christmas holiday or any other…S.A. McCarthy -
- Opinion
DEFUNDING DEI: Wisconsin Lawmaker’s Tactics Show Way to Kill Radical University Programs
Napoleon said that to master the art of war, you must “read over and over again” the campaigns of history’s most successful generals. The same advice applies if you want to master the art of legislating: You must study the strategies of the most successful legislators. To that end, any lawmaker that wants to thwart…GianCarlo Canaparo -
- Opinion
EXCLUSIVE: Butler University Investigates College Republicans for Condemning Antisemitic Chants
While other universities, including Rutgers, have suspended a group called Students for Justice in Palestine over violations of discrimination and harassment policies, Butler University apparently is investigating anyone who dares to condemn the pro-Palestine organization. Indianapolis-based Butler University launched an investigation of the school’s College Republicans chapter Oct. 30, according to an email obtained by…Tony Kinnett -
- Opinion
New Education Model Charts Course for ‘Success Sequence’ in New Year
Just in time for Christmas, new data finds good news on education: Average graduation rates nationwide are up two percentage points. Before celebrating, though, research reminds us that students still are posting low scores in national and international comparisons, and a troubling share of college students need remedial work. Graduation rates may not represent what…Jonathan Butcher -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Missouri School District Assigns Roommates Based on Gender Identity Rather Than Biology
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: A Missouri school district’s procedure on overnight trips stipulates that students will be assigned to room with others of the sex they identify with, meaning that biological males who identify as female will be assigned to sleep in the same room as girls. Room assignments for field trips should be…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Florida School Punished for Allowing Boy in Girls’ Sports
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: A Florida high school has been fined and placed on administrative probation for violating the state’s bylaws by allowing a biologically male student to participate on a female sports team, The Daily Signal has learned. The move appears to be the first time that a public school has been punished…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
College Presidents Expose Moral Rot in Their Institutions
The presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT appeared before a House committee last Tuesday to answer for their shameful inaction in the face of antisemitic rhetoric and attacks on their campuses. Their craven responses were as noncommittal as their handlers obviously wanted, which served only to indict their institutions. Indeed, the whole nation has…Mike Gonzalez -
- Opinion
Higher Education Reveals Its Moral Rot to the World
Our most prestigious institutions of higher education have devolved into know-nothing hate factories operating in an unaccountable cocoon of ideological conformity and reinforcement. That’s what was revealed Tuesday at a House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were brought before Congress…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
Biased Documentary on School ‘Book Banning’ Earns Failing Grade
It’s quite surprising how much dishonesty and disinformation you can pack into a 27-minute “documentary” film. (Twenty-five minutes, if you don’t count the two minutes of credits at the end.) But the dishonesty and disinformation in “The ABCs of Book Banning”—streaming now on Paramount+—is at least as much an act of omission as one of…Peter Parisi -
- Opinion
For Hanukkah, Let’s Vow to Defeat the New Oppressors: Higher Education
We know from history that Jew-hatred, the world’s oldest and once again most fashionable form of bigotry, is the chameleon of all hates—forever taking on new hues to suit the scapegoating needs of the day. It has always been thus, and it will always be thus. This is a cancer for which there is, sadly,…Josh Hammer -
- News
Democrat School Board President Sworn in on Sexually Explicit Books
The new president of one of Pennsylvania’s largest school districts was sworn into office with her hand on sexually-explicit LGBT propaganda and “banned” books. Democrat Karen Smith took up her new position Monday night as the head of the Central Bucks School District and immediately moved to undo Republican-led, pro-parent, and pro-family policies. For the swearing-in ceremony,…S.A. McCarthy -
- News
Haley Uses Leftist Slur to Describe Parental Rights in Education Bill
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley used a leftist slur Wednesday evening to describe a Florida bill that bans classroom discussions of gender and sexuality for children. At a presidential debate, Haley responded Wednesday to criticism from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis about her remarks made to “CBS Mornings” back in June. “It wasn’t about the…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
Teacher Shortage? For Decades, Public Schools Have Enjoyed Hiring Sprees
Pop quiz time. “Teacher shortages have gotten worse.” True or false? False. And yet, that sentence was part of a recent Washington Post headline. And it’s far from uncommon. In fact, public schools have been on a hiring spree for decades. It began with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society and has continued to the present…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
Lawmakers Are Checking on School Libraries. Here’s What Parents Need to Know.
In a nationally televised face-off, Govs. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., on Thursday night debated, among other things, whether school libraries should carry explicit content on their shelves. When two high-profile state officials spar over an issue on prime-time TV, policies related to that issue are likely to be a topic for other…Jonathan Butcher -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: School Assigned Girl to Sleep With Boy Who Identifies as Trans Without Parental Notification
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: An 11-year-old girl was assigned to share a bed with a male student who identifies as a transgender girl while on a cross-country school trip, according to a demand letter sent Monday. That girl’s parents are now calling upon the public school system to provide answers and clarification of its…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
Progressive Public High School Offers Race-Segregated Classes
Diversity, equity, and inclusion policies have grown so diverse that they now include policies reminiscent of the Jim Crow era. A Chicago-area school district is attempting to boost academic achievement among black and Latino students by offering blacks-only and Latino-only classes. The segregated classes are called “affinity” classes, and they aim to reduce the so-called academic achievement…Joshua Arnold -
- News
‘GAY IS SLAY’: Seattle Public School Teacher Sends Moms for Liberty Hate Mail
A Seattle public school teacher sent the parental rights group Moms for Liberty a packet with “hate letters” reading “Gay is Slay,” “Grow up,” and “Stop bullying and excluding LGBTQ youth and families.” “Public school administrators should put our public taxpayer dollars towards fixing the abysmal reading scores in the U.S., rather than writing hate…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Tennessee Governor Calls for Expanded School Choice Programs
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was set to announce new legislation Tuesday to expand school choice in his state to 20,000 more students next year—with plans to make a pilot program’s scholarships available statewide in 2025. In a statement to The Daily Signal before making his scheduled announcement at 3 p.m. EST about offering more education…Tony Kinnett -
- News
Laura and Jeff Sandefer Take Simon-DeVos Prize for Creating Change Through Education
A 2009 encounter with a public school teacher dramatically changed the course of Laura and Jeff Sandefer’s lives—and the lives of thousands of students. That year, the Sandefers were considering a move from a Montessori school in Austin, Texas, to a traditional school for their sons. During a meeting with a teacher at a local…David Bass -
- Opinion
How University of Michigan Failed to Protect My Right to Free Speech
I arrived at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Thursday, Nov. 16, to deliver a speech on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. The talk’s blunt title, selected by the local Young Americans for Freedom chapter, reflected my own unambiguous approach to the conflict: “Israel’s Righteous Fight Against Jihadism.” Given the nature of…Josh Hammer