Reports on education reform, school choice, and classroom policies. The Daily Signal provides conservative commentary and opinion alongside education news.
Florida long has been a leading state for education freedom and choice. It was no surprise when Florida ranked first in the nation last year in The Heritage Foundation’s inaugural Education Freedom Report Card. “Florida’s schoolchildren are thriving because we invest in our students, and we empower parents to decide what learning environment is best…
PENDLETON, Ind.—I was kicked out of a public school board meeting Thursday night in this Indiana town because I asked a board member to provide details concerning a claim he made about a source in my prior article. The board of the South Madison Community School Corporation held a public meeting to vote on the…
PENDLETON, Ind.—An Indiana school district fired a student counselor Thursday night for confirming and condemning the existence of a secret transgender policy that keeps parents in the dark about their children’s “gender transitions.” Kathy McCord worked as a counselor at Pendleton Heights High School for 25 years before the school board voted unanimously to terminate…
Police in Pendleton, Indiana, have confirmed that they are investigating the theft of several signs from the yards of community members in support of a suspended counselor. These signs, which say “Keep Kathy” (pictured below) indicate community support for Kathy McCord, a counselor who is currently suspended and facing termination by the South Madison Community…
OXON HILL, Md.—America First Legal filed a lawsuit last week demanding documents from the Food and Drug Administration regarding how strictly the FDA monitors the use of so-called puberty blockers and other hormone drugs for so-called gender-affirming care. Ian Prior, the legal organization’s senior adviser, explained his group’s efforts against the transgender movement in an…
A new report reveals students in the nation’s largest school districts are encouraged to change their names and pronouns without parental knowledge, even though those same schools require parental approval for over-the-counter medicine. The report, released by the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, found that “eight of the nation’s 20 largest school districts allow students…
No one can say “parents’ rights” aren’t popular in North Carolina, with state lawmakers introducing more than one proposal this year to advance them. But there are stark contrasts between the competing pitches to empower parents. One bill reinforces the idea that children belong to parents first. The other is declaring open season on the…
The Supreme Court heard two cases Tuesday challenging the Biden administration’s claim that it could use a law meant to provide relief to first responders and military personnel after 9/11 to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt for over 40 million borrowers. The administration has relied on an emergency-powers law called the HEROES Act,…
You’d think that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp would be getting more national attention, given his solid record of conservative accomplishments. But if he wants to be touted as an exemplar of conservative governance, he needs to fill one gaping hole in his otherwise sterling résumé: school choice. Since he was elected governor in 2018, Kemp…
Litigants preparing for oral arguments in the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan anticipate victory, based on past high court decisions batting down the administration’s executive overreach. “This really is reminiscent of what we saw with the [ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] eviction program, the [Occupational Safety…
A high school teacher in Washington state suggested that schools should hide information about children from their parents, because kids "are not safe in this nation from their Christo-fascist parents." Kelly Love, who appears in Auburn School District's directory as "Karen Love," a teacher at Auburn High School, made the claim Thursday on Twitter. Love…
Russia is suspending the last nuclear arms treaty with America. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are preparing to meet. North Korea is again testing its ballistic missiles. Ukraine has been at war with Russia for a year now. Meanwhile, “WWIII” was trending on Twitter earlier this week. The millennial generation, of…
In a new report, America’s largest teachers union is encouraging educators to bargain for their health care coverage to include abortion. The National Education Association’s Feb. 14 report, “Bargaining and Advocacy in a Post Roe Environment,” advises teachers how to ask for insurance coverage for surgical and chemical abortions, including reimbursement for out-of-state abortion travel expenses. …
The California Teachers Association offers a scholarship limited to LGBT students, though the Biden administration’s Title IX rule change prohibits sexuality-based discrimination. “Self-identified LGBTQ+” union members pursuing a career in public education can apply by May 31, 2023, for the LGBTQ+ Safety in Schools Program to receive a scholarship of up to $2,500,” the scholarship…
The National Education Association removed its resources on Presidents Day from its websites in 2020, according to a Daily Signal review of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Three years later, the teachers union still has not updated the page. The resources, last saved on June 17, 2020, included lesson plans celebrating “the lives of George…
Two years ago, 2021 was declared “The Year of Education Choice,” when 19 states enacted 32 new or expanded education choice policies. This year could be even bigger, as more states consider making choice policies available to all K-12 students. In 2021, West Virginia became the first state to enact a publicly funded education choice…
Parents should recognize classical education as an alternative to critical race theory-ridden public schools, says Pete Hegseth, “Fox and Friends” TV co-host and author of the 2022 book “Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation.” In a conversation with the president of The Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, on “The Kevin Roberts Show” podcast, Hegseth explained…
The school board in Loudoun County, Virginia, voted on Tuesday night to keep the findings of an independent report on sexual assault private. The report, compiled by the law firm Blankingship and Keith, focused on how the district responded to two sexual assault incidents at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021. The 15-year-old “gender…
Black Lives Matter at School is using Black History Month to teach children about gender ideology, critical race theory, and reparations. Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action—Feb. 6-10 this year—began in 2016 to teach “people of all ages to engage with issues of racial justice.” Events and curriculums promote Black Lives Matter's 13 guiding principles…
Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office said the Black Lives Matter at School toolkit released by a Virginia teachers union “will not be tolerated.” The Virginia Education Association’s Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action toolkit champions BLM’s 13 principles in the classroom. It uses kindergarten through 12th grade lesson plans made by the education…