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
In Woke Wars, Faith-Based Virginia Schools See Enrollment Jump
Schools rooted in a biblical worldview are seeing increased enrollment in Virginia, while public schools are faltering. According to a recent report, Catholic schools in Northern Virginia have seen a 10% increase in enrollment since 2019. The Catholic Diocese of Arlington covers the entirety of Northern Virginia, including Loudoun County, which has been at the heart of… -
news
Over 1,000 School Districts Hide Students’ Gender Identities From Parents
A new report sounds the alarm on the growing number of schools embracing transgender ideology and keeping parents in the dark. According to Parents Defending Education, at least 1,040 U.S. school districts have adopted policies instructing or encouraging faculty and staff to keep students’ gender identities a secret from parents. Those districts include over 18,000 schools responsible… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: St. Louis University Pushes Ideological Transgender ‘Toolkit’ on Med Students
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—St. Louis University's Transgender Health Collaborative is pushing a toolkit on "transgender health" intended to influence students of medicine to embrace ideological understandings of gender and sexuality. Published in November 2022, St. Louis University's toolkit is a collaborative effort of the university's Transgender Health Collaborative as well as Metro Trans Umbrella… -
opinion
Sending Public Officials Who Censor to Free Speech School
With no opportunity to mount a defense, Maggie DeJong was banned by her university from speaking to three classmates because she expressed views those classmates opposed. With no defense of its own to mount when DeJong sued the school for violating her free speech rights, Southern Illinois University agreed to settle, paying her $80,000. The… -
news
Air Force Colonel in Line for Promotion Preaches DEI Agenda, Endorses CRT Book
In the weeks following George Floyd’s death in 2020, a U.S. Air Force officer—currently awaiting promotion to brigadier general—accused his fellow “white colonels” of being the “biggest barriers” to addressing “racial injustice” in the military and being “blind to institutional racism.” Col. Ben Jonsson’s 825-word commentary in the Air Force Times on July 1, 2020,… -
opinion
Back to (What Kind of) School: Education or Indoctrination?
As millions of children return to public school, it’s a good idea to again examine what they are being taught and what is being left out. It also offers an annual opportunity for parents to ask if their kids are being educated or indoctrinated. At the recent convention of the National Education Association in Orlando,… -
opinion
College Rip-Off
It’s August, when many young people head off to college. This year, fortunately, fewer will go. I say “fortunately” because college is now an overpriced scam. Overpriced, because normal incentives to be frugal and make smart judgments about who should go to college were thrown out when the federal government took over granting student loans…. -
news
California AG Hints at Investigating Second School Board to Back Parental Rights on Kids’ Gender Transitions
Parental rights advanced last week in deep blue California, as another school district required teachers to notify parents if their children begin to identify as transgender. The school board of the Murrieta Valley Unified School District adopted a Parental Notification Policy by a 3-2 vote Thursday. Under it, teachers must contact a parent or guardian within three days if… -
news
School District Allowed to Keep Child Gender Transitions From Parents, Court Rules
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a Maryland school district can continue to keep students’ gender transitions from their parents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit dismissed a coalition of parents’ lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools alleging that the district’s gender support plan, which allows students to change their gender without their… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Florida Schools See Decline in Teacher Vacancies
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Florida schools saw an eight percent decline in teacher vacancies heading into the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year compared to the previous year, The Daily Signal has learned. Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. will announce Tuesday that Florida schools will have 4,776 total teacher vacancies as students head into… -
news
VINDICATED: School Board Fails to Sweep Dad’s Rights Under ‘Legal Rug’ After It Had Him Removed From Meeting
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A U.S. district court judge in Texas upheld a father's claims that school board members and police violated his constitutional rights when they forcibly removed him and prevented him from attending school board meetings in 2021. Police removed him after he spoke at a school board meeting, raising concerns about the… -
opinion
Alabama GOP Says No to Teachers Unions’ Money in School-Related Elections
Alabama Republicans have told teachers unions to stay out of their school-related elections. The Alabama Republican Party recently voted to ban GOP candidates for the Alabama Board of Education, local school boards, and county school superintendent from accepting donations from teachers unions. John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama GOP, says the change was needed to… -
news
New College of Florida Trustees Vote to End Gender Studies
Trustees for the New College of Florida have voted to end a 28-year-old gender studies program. Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and Manhattan Institute scholar appointed to New College’s board of trustees by Gov. Ron DeSantis, introduced the motion to direct the school’s president to eliminate the gender studies program. The board voted 7-3 in… -
news
School System Shuts Down as Students Stranded on Buses After First Day Back
After a long first day of school Wednesday, hundreds of students in Louisville, Kentucky, were stuck on school buses until almost 10 p.m. The school system announced a complete closure of schools Thursday, including canceling all extracurricular activities on the second day of school, because of what it called “transportation issues.” Parents are outraged over… -
news
Parents Could Face Jail Time for Sending 2 Emails School Staff Don’t Like: Critics Sound Alarm on California Bill
California already has undermined the rights of parents from out of state when it comes to experimental transgender "health care," but the Legislature also is considering a bill that would criminalize causing "substantial disorder" at school board meetings—an attempt to "chill parents from speaking out," critics warn. SB 596, which the California State Senate passed… -
opinion
On-Campus DEI Bureaucrats Already Ditching New Loyalty Oaths
Will the last diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrat to leave their office on campus please turn out the lights? On college grounds today, so-called DEI departments are withering as whistleblowers reveal that the offices have promoted racial prejudice and operated with little transparency—and no measurable results—for years. School officials and lawmakers in states such as… -
news
Ruling Against Middle Schooler Punished for Wearing ‘There Are Only 2 Genders’ T-Shirt to Be Appealed
The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a “notice of appeal” after a federal district court in Massachusetts ruled that a middle school in Middleborough, Massachusetts, has the right to prohibit a student from wearing a “There are only two genders” T-shirt to school. “We look forward to showing the court how this isn’t just about… -
news
Coach to Return to High School Football Field After 7-Year Court Battle Over Prayer There
After a seven-year legal battle that ended with a victory at the Supreme Court, Joe Kennedy will be back on the field Sept. 1 coaching football and taking a knee in prayer. “I have been looking forward to this since the 2015 season,” Kennedy told The Daily Signal Tuesday. “I am praying for a fantastic… -
news
Federal Judge Dismisses Parents’ Lawsuit, Lets School Allow Boys to Use Girls’ Bathroom
A federal judge ruled Monday that an Ohio school district’s policy that allows students to use the bathroom on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex may stand. In 2022, a coalition of parents, represented by America First Legal, sued Bethel Local Schools, alleging that the district’s policy was enacted without community input… -
opinion
Milton Friedman’s Vision in Education Becomes Reality
On the occasion of his “eleventy-first” birthday, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins famously disappeared. On July 31, we celebrate what would have been the 111th birthday of another man who was diminutive in size but larger than life in spirit: Milton Friedman. Were he to reappear today, he would likely marvel at how much progress has…