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
Why Parental Rights Activists Use Term ‘Grooming’ in Support of Laws to Protect Kids
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill more than two weeks ago, but that hasn’t halted the left’s outrage about it. The bill, signed March 28, “prohibit[s] a school district from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels,” but the left almost immediately dubbed…Nicole Russell -
- Opinion
How Left’s Obsession With Critical Race Theory Hurts Minority Students
The left makes a big deal about teaching race in America. From the 1619 Project to critical race theory, the left claims that America is irredeemably steeped in racism and that race should be the central focus of all aspects of American life. Delano Squires, a homeschool father and scholar at the pro-America education group…Douglas Blair -
- Opinion
Political Deck Stacked Against Parents Running for School Board
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Those were the famous words of Terry McAuliffe’s failed gubernatorial campaign in Virginia last fall. The past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed just how little control parents have over their children’s public school education. And their powerlessness did not end when…Benjamin Tardif -
- Opinion
Fed Up, These Parents Sue Baltimore Public Schools
As in so many other places around the country, the public education system in Baltimore is failing the city’s children. Public schools have been failing American students for decades, but the issue is pronounced in Maryland’s biggest city. Stories abound of Baltimore’s momentous failures to teach its kids. One report details how a student graduated…Douglas Blair -
- Opinion
Youth Mental Health Crisis Gives More Urgency to School Choice Movement
Parents have spent the last two years dealing with lawmakers’ and school officials’ indecisions about school reopenings, a nightmare for many. Public officials have constantly alternated between remote and in-person learning, masking and unmasking, social distancing and not. Now, many families are rejoicing as they see states lift their remaining COVID-19 restrictions. Getting their children caught…Chloe Shoemaker -
- Opinion
No, School Boards Are Not ‘Banning Books’
Accusations of left-wing free speech authoritarianism—whether through corporate restrictions, the state targeting “misinformation,” the shouting down of dissent in universities, or the canceling of dissenting voices—are well-documented. Attempting to even the ledger, liberals have begun alleging that conservatives are engaging in “book bans” in public school districts. The newest outrage on this front comes from…David Harsanyi -
- Opinion
The Consequences of Victimhood-Based Education Are Deadly
Last month’s attempted assassination of a Jewish politician in Louisville, Kentucky, by a Black Lives Matter activist has gone largely unreported by the press. The incident and the general reaction to it speaks volumes about the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. The shooter, Quintez Brown, was open about his views. In an op-ed, he…Rafi Levitt -
- Opinion
How Student Protesters Killed Free Speech at Yale Law School
Free speech is under fire at America’s universities. It’s an open secret that liberals dominate academia and wield their power with impunity on college campuses. But recently, radical leftists have become more brazen with their attempts to silence speech and organizations they don’t like. During a recent bipartisan free speech event at Yale Law School,…Douglas Blair -
- Opinion
Yes, Schools Are Secretly Trying to ‘Gender Transition’ Kids, and It Must Be Stopped
Abigail Martinez called the pain of losing her daughter a pain with no name. “Even when you breathe, it hurts,” she said during an event on radical gender ideology in schools. Her daughter, Yaeli, began struggling with depression in the seventh and eighth grades after classmates criticized her appearance. Abigail described her daughter as a…Emilie Kao -
- Opinion
Movement for Restoring Parental Rights in Schools Represents the Majority
The grassroots parental rights movement is picking up steam, and it’s pushing legislators to act. On Tuesday, the Kansas Legislature passed a “parents’ bill of rights” that would allow parents to “inspect any materials, activities, curriculum, lessons, syllabi, surveys, tests, questionnaires, examinations, books, magazines, handouts, professional development and training materials and any other materials or…Jarrett Stepman -
- News
Georgia’s ‘Mathematics Equity’ Program Told Educators to Teach CRT-Aligned Curriculum to Remove ‘Bias’ From Classrooms
Georgia’s Department of Education held math equity summits in 2019 and 2020 that instructed state educators to stop grouping students by ability and prioritize their work as educators around equity, according to materials provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by Heritage Action for America. (Heritage Action for America is the grassroots partner organization of…Kendall Tietz -
- Opinion
Texas University’s Insistence on Critical Race Theory, Ideological Conformity Draws Overdue Pushback
Is it time for lawmakers to take a more active role in curtailing the radicalism now pervasive throughout higher education? There are certainly signs that’s the case, and it should have happened long ago. A battle going on in Texas underscores the point. Last year, Texas banned the teaching of critical race theory in K-12…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
Don’t Buy Media’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Distortions About Florida’s Parental Rights Bill
For the crime of trying to protect young children from sexually explicit material in the classroom, Florida legislators are being crucified by the media. The Florida House recently passed the parental rights bill known as HB 1557, and it has cleared a final committee in the state Senate. Senators now have until March 11 to…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
Indiana Parents’ Rights Over Their Child’s Education Are Threatened. Here’s What Parents Around the Country Need to Know.
Parents and voters are taking every opportunity to reject racially biased teaching and sexually explicit classroom material. Through whistleblower activity and using their right to speak at school board meetings, families are advocating for their students’ interests, and state lawmakers should take notice. Currently, a high-profile legislative proposal in Indiana is going in the wrong…Jonathan Butcher -
- News
Catholic School Parents Ask Archdiocese to Fight DC Mayor’s Masking Order
More than 1,000 Catholic school parents and parishioners are pressuring the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to fight D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s mask mandate for schools. The group ADW Parents has existed for several months, but revamped its efforts in light of Bowser’s recent announcement removing mask mandates for many businesses and government offices but…Maggie Hroncich -
- Opinion
Seeking Truth, Former Liberal James Lindsay Now Fights Critical Race Theory
Commentator and author James Lindsay first came to national attention after he and his colleagues published a series of hoax papers in social science journals to demonstrate the loose academic standards of the journals. He used to be a liberal, Lindsay says, but became more conservative when he recognized the real threat that ideologies such…Douglas Blair -
- Opinion
Christian-Based Credit Union Offers Alternative to Big Banks, Aid to School Choice Movement
In this age of cancel culture, nothing is off limits for the woke left. Christians and conservatives increasingly find themselves on the defensive. Deplatforming and censorship are the norm on social media. In fact, it happened to The Daily Signal just last week for allegedly violating YouTube’s COVID-19 “misinformation” policy. And while having a video…Robert B. Bluey -
- News
Biden Education Department to Cancel $415M in Student Loan Debt for 16,000 Borrowers
The Biden administration will cancel $415 million in student debt for nearly 16,000 borrowers who claim they were misled by for-profit colleges. The loans for almost 16,000 former students will be canceled under a legal provision, called the "borrower defense to repayment," which allows students to have their debts erased if they prove a for-profit…Harry Wilmerding -
- Opinion
EXCLUSIVE: 15 Civics Education Programs, Ranked From Best to Worst
Any parent with school-age kids knows they’re probably not getting the civics education they need. Teachers lack proper training or are increasingly pressured to embrace “action civics.” A new study from the Pioneer Institute and the National Association of Scholars, provided exclusively to The Daily Signal, offers a detailed ranking of 15 civics education programs offered for…Robert B. Bluey -
- News
Maryland Public School District Announces ‘Anti-Racist System Audit’
Maryland’s largest school district plans to issue an “anti-racist” survey to students to “address racial barriers” in the school district, according to an announcement from the district superintendent. Montgomery County Public Schools will issue an “Anti-Racist System Audit” to all parents, guardians, staff, and all fourth through 12th graders from March 1-31 to review “district…Kendall Tietz