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
Helping 200 Teachers Abandon Indiana’s Largest Teachers Union
On Dec. 20, I helped my 200th teacher leave the Indiana State Teachers Association. This behemoth of a pyramid scheme charges Indiana teachers $1,000 per year to lobby for progressive political goals at the state and national level—while claiming to be integral in salary negotiation and legal defense. Over the last five years, I’ve enjoyed…Tony Kinnett -
- Opinion
For National School Choice Week, Sen. Lee Wants to Empower Parents, not Educrats
Teachers unions have long opposed efforts to give parents more choices in education. But parents today should quote something from Samuel Gompers, who founded the American Federation of Labor in the 19th century, to union members: “Doing for people what they can and ought to do for themselves is a dangerous experiment.” That surely applies…Jonathan Butcher -
- Opinion
Iowa Marks National School Choice Week by Enacting Students First Act
Jan. 22 to Jan. 28 is National School Choice Week, and what better way to highlight the fact that parents today have more choices for their children’s education than ever before than by celebrating Iowa’s Students First Act being signed into law on Tuesday? The year 2011 was deemed “the year of school choice” after…Madison Marino Doan -
- Opinion
Iowa and Utah Lead States on School Choice Progress in the New Year
As America celebrates National School Choice Week, two states—Iowa and Utah—have made the first moves this year to empower families with a greater say in how their children are educated. Additionally, the evidence from states with robust school choice policies is debunking opponents’ charges that choice harms rural students and homeschoolers. Last week, the education…Jason Bedrick -
- News
Arizona Senate Panel Debates Parental Rights’ School ‘Pronouns’ Bill
The Arizona state Senate Education Committee met Wednesday to consider SB 1001, The Given Name Act, a one-page, 21-line bill that states that any individual involved in the Arizona public education system would be required to use the pronoun associated with a student’s biological sex unless the student’s public school or charter school received other…Tony Kinnett -
- News
Blake Masters Slams Tucson School District for SPLC Curriculum, Warns About ‘Left-Wing Power Grabs’ in Education
Blake Masters, the former Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, slammed his Tucson school district for its curriculum's reliance on the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leftist activist group known for branding conservative organizations "hate groups" on a map with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan. "The SPLC is as extreme as it is dishonest….Tyler O’Neil -
- Opinion
Iowa Governor Leads on Ambitious School Choice Initiative
Iowa came very close to enacting an expansive education choice policy last year. This year, after supporting school choice advocates who successfully primaried incumbents from her own party opposed to reform, Gov. Kimberly Reynolds is determined to see her ambitious education agenda over the finish line. Her proposal is a package of reforms that includes…Jason Bedrick -
- News
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Moves to Cut Size of Government, Ban Critical Race Theory in Schools, Discard ‘Latinx’
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed seven executive orders to decrease the size of her state's government, combat "indoctrination" and critical race theory in schools, and remove the term "Latinx" from government documents. During her inaugural address Tuesday, Sanders pledged to sign an executive order "preventing the political indoctrination of Arkansas' schoolchildren." "As…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Elite University Department Bans Use of Word ‘Field,’ Claiming It’s Too Racist
The University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work will no longer use the word “field” in its curriculum or its practices as part of its anti-racist framework, according to an email reportedly sent Monday. The school reportedly stripped the word from use due to alleged ties to “anti-Black” and “anti-immigrant” rhetoric, according to the…Alexa Schwerha -
- Opinion
DeSantis Tackles Divisive ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ Programs on College Campuses
The average American university has more than 45 individuals with jobs devoted to promoting so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI programs push divisive identity politics as well as distorted narratives about American history. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is once again leading on this issue, taking a first step in clamping down on these…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
West Virginia Wins Day on Fairness in Women’s Sports but Plot Thickens on Title IX
The game’s afoot on the legal definition of “sex.” What was once a commonsense understanding of “sex” as meaning the biological distinctions between male and female has—under recent leftist claims that sex includes “gender identity”—become a flashpoint for the culture wars and clogged the federal courts. Parents, legislators, and educators across the country are navigating…Sarah Parshall Perry -
- Opinion
Kentucky Loses Distinction for Education Freedom After Flawed Court Decision
Kentucky long has lagged in giving families access to education choice. However, that changed dramatically in 2021 when, in the wake of school shutdowns over COVID-19, Kentucky joined a wave of states expanding education opportunities by enacting the Education Opportunity Account program. Unfortunately, Kentucky children who stood to benefit from access to a greater number…Jason Bedrick -
- Opinion
Axios Lies for Arkansas School Caught Teaching Critical Race Theory
Ring set aside days of his English III course to walk his students through critical race theory in detailed fashion—and the student, wishing to remain anonymous, was quick enough to hit “record.”Tony Kinnett -
- Opinion
Dr. Ben Carson Diagnoses American Schools’ Greatest Ailment as ‘Loss of Vision’
With the start of a new year, Dr. Ben Carson says he is concerned that America’s schools have lost their vision. Americans have lost “vision of what education is there for,” says Carson, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and renowned neurosurgeon. “Education is there to teach you how to function successfully in…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
For Teachers Unions, Parents and Children Come Last
Schools in the Rochester school district in Michigan include in their curriculum a course called “History of Ethnic and Gender Studies.” If my child were attending school there, I would wonder why this is in the curriculum as part of K-12 education and what is taught. One mother, Carol Beth Litkouhi, wondered enough that she…Star Parker -
- Opinion
Indiana School Board, Superintendent Refuse to Explain Secret Transgender Policy to Parents
The school board and superintendent of an Indiana school district refused to comment Monday on a recently uncovered transgender policy for students that keeps parents in the dark, nearly two weeks after a public meeting at which parents demanded that officials explain why they're hiding information. Concerned parents in Pendleton, Indiana, flocked to the Dec….Tony Kinnett -
- Opinion
RETALIATION? Teacher Sues School District After Losing Her Job for Offending Trans Orthodoxy
Ohio middle school English teacher Vivian Geraghty lost her job in August when she refused to call two students by new names and preferred personal pronouns. Geraghty was informed in August that two of her students were beginning to “socially transition” to another gender. A school counselor emailed Geraghty and several other teachers with instructions…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Cross-Dressing Book Given to Pre-K Pupils Forces School District to Revamp Vetting Process
A school district that gave preschoolers a book on cross-dressing has changed its procedures for giving out books after news of the incident surfaced late last month. As first reported exclusively by The Lion and The Heartlander news sites, a 4-year-old preschooler in the Turner School District in Kansas City, Kansas, took home the book “Jacob’s New Dress.” It’s a…Michael Ryan -
- Opinion
House Can Sue to Block Biden’s Student Loan Bailout
In February, the Supreme Court will hear not one but two cases challenging President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student loan debt. The most important question remains, however: Will the high court reach the question of whether Biden has the authority to cancel student debt? To most, it seems the court has only two options:…GianCarlo Canaparo -
- News
‘After School Satan Club’ Persists in Effort to Meet at Elementary School
News that a Satanic temple is attempting to start an after-school club for children on school property in Virginia is the latest in a rising pattern of public activity by groups that openly identify as followers of Satan. Reports surfaced Tuesday that The Satanic Temple in Chesapeake, Virginia, had been approved to use a room at…Dan Hart