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
Biden’s Executive Order on Gender Discrimination Has Muddied Waters on Title IX. Challenges Could Clear That Up.
A month ago on Jan. 20, a newly minted President Joe Biden—who had remarked on Twitter during his presidential campaign, “Let’s be clear: Transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time”—issued a lightning-fast executive order on the subject. Biden’s “Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or… -
opinion
It’s Time to Hold School Boards Accountable, This Father Says
All parents want their children to receive a good education and in Fort Worth, Texas, John Pritchett is working hard to ensure that desire becomes a reality. Pritchett has helped organize the Focus on Students PAC, a group of parents who are working to bring more accountability to their local school board. Pritchett joins the… -
opinion
We Hear You: Rebuffing Teachers Unions and Reopening Schools
Editor's note: The Daily Signal's audience isn't buying the teachers union's reasons for refusing to return to classrooms. Here's a sampling, plus some thoughts on the new Biden administration. Write about our coverage to [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: I just read your commentary article on teachers and their unions and the continual refusal during… -
opinion
School Choice Provides Opportunity for All of America’s Kids to Have Better Life
Tiffany Dunston is the epitome of an education opportunity success story. She grew up in a poor neighborhood in Washington, D.C., and became motivated in her own educational journey after her cousin—who was going to be the first in the family to attend college—was fatally shot at the age of 17. But after starting out… -
news
Petition Calls on San Francisco School Board to Focus on ‘Improving Schools, Not Renaming Them’
A petition being circulated online in San Francisco is demanding that the city’s Board of Education focus on “improving schools, NOT renaming them.” The petition calls on San Francisco’s school board to rescind its decision late last month to rename 44 schools in the city that bear the names of former presidents and other historical… -
opinion
Why Civil Discourse Should Be Fruit of Liberal Arts Education
Even in the midst of a global pandemic with many college students off campus in virtual classrooms, debates about free speech in higher education remain a hot topic. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding free speech at public university campuses this year. And last year, the U.S. Department of Education opened investigations into… -
news
Legal Coalition to Sue to Stop Feds’ Critical Race Theory Training
One of President Joe Biden’s new executive actions is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to a coalition of legal foundations and lawyers, which is planning to take legal action to stop it. On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order reversing former President Donald Trump’s ban on… -
opinion
The Real Harm of Teachers Union’s Decision to Keep Schools Closed
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced it’s now safe to resume in-person schooling, providing appropriate precautions are taken. Yet, the Chicago Teachers Union voted Sunday to keep students home and continue all teaching virtual. Jonathan Butcher, a Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst in the Center for Education Policy, joins the show to… -
opinion
San Francisco School Board Cancels Lincoln, Washington for ‘Dishonorable’ Legacies
Editor’s note: The San Francisco school board voted Tuesday to rename 44 public schools in the school district. Among the figures with “dishonorable” or racist legacies, according to the school board, were Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. In December, Jarrett Stepman wrote about how the war on history has even come for Lincoln and what… -
opinion
Here’s How Some States and Families Are Taking Back Control Over Their Children’s Education
When schools closed last March due to the coronavirus pandemic, no one expected them to still be closed nearly a year later. The image projected by the public education system as a reliable and stable fixture of society has waned as classrooms remain empty. At the same time, teachers unions—who have long tried to claim… -
opinion
Military Families Deserve More School Choice for Their Children
I was disturbed to read a 2017 Military Times survey that found that 35% of service members pointed to dissatisfaction with their children’s education as a “significant factor” in deciding whether to continue their military service. A big part of the military’s readiness is its retention rate. If more service members stay enlisted for longer,… -
opinion
Amid Shuttered Schools, 7 Days of Hope for Educational Freedom
Hope is a powerful, uniquely human concept. Hope is also a necessity to persevere through the trials and tribulations, the ups and the downs, of the human experience that all of us inevitably will face. Hope is especially important as the country approaches what is, hopefully, the twilight of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hope is exactly… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Offer 6 School Choice Bills
The Republican Study Committee plans to introduce six school choice measures in the House on Thursday in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered schools across the country. “These [committee] members recognize that if Congress had placed a greater emphasis on school choice, parents and students could’ve been freer to avoid the debacle… -
opinion
It’s Time for a Bold, Reaganesque Approach to Teachers Unions on School Closures
In 1971, the Supreme Court upheld a 1955 law making it illegal for federal employees to strike against the U.S. government. So, when members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization union went on strike in August 1981, demanding a $10,000 a year bump in pay and a reduction in the workweek from 40 hours… -
opinion
Teachers Unions Are Keeping Kids Out of the Classroom. School Choice Can Ensure They Learn Anyway.
National School Choice Week has taken on renewed importance this year, as too many families are approaching the one-year mark of crisis online learning provided by their public school district. Last March, the coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools nationwide, forcing teachers, parents, and students to transition to virtual classrooms and grapple with the various effects of… -
opinion
National School Choice Week 2021 Is an Opportunity to Reexamine Our Children’s Education
As we prepare to celebrate National School Choice Week, so many things come to my mind. The months of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused parents everywhere to look at how their children are being educated. I think back to a time when we became so concerned about our children and began looking for ways to help them… -
news
Podcast: What You Need to Know About Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory is fast becoming part of classroom curriculums and the larger culture in general. The Heritage Foundation recently hosted a panel discussion breaking down what critical race theory is and why it poses a threat. The event features insights from several Heritage scholars and policy experts. On today’s podcast, we share the audio… -
opinion
Teachers Unions Fail Science
Is your child’s school open now? Probably not — because teachers unions say that reopening would “put their health and safety at risk.” They keep schools closed by lobbying and protesting. “If I die from catching COVID-19 from being forced back into Pinellas County Schools, you can drop my dead body right here!” shouts one… -
news
Minnesota Law School Students Aim to ‘Cancel’ Alumna Rep. Fischbach
Some students at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, are asking the school’s administration to ban an alumna and newly elected congresswoman because of her stance on voter fraud and support for President Donald Trump. “Rep. Michelle Fischbach (MN-8), an alumna of one of Mitchell Hamline’s predecessor institutions, directly contributed to… -
news
Critical Race Theory Infiltrates Government, Classrooms
Critical theory, an ideology that has dropped deep roots into America’s most powerful institutions, is opposed to the very foundation of Western civilization. This is according to a group of panelists on a Heritage Foundation webinar on Monday, who laid out what critical race theory is, how pervasive it has become, and what needs to…