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
Students’ Safety Is No Small Consideration in Parents’ Private School Choice
It goes without saying that parents are more concerned than anyone else for their children’s well-being. So, no one is surprised, as The Daily Signal has noted, when parents hesitate to send their children to schools where “violence and intimidation were so bad that eight police officers patrolled the school every day, yet kids were… -
opinion
Podcast: A Homeschooling Mom Shares Why, and How
Where do you begin if you’re thinking about homeschooling? Can you do it if you’re not a teacher? And how can you make sure your kids get enough socialization? We’re joined by a special guest, Colleen Trinko—yes, Kate’s mom! Colleen, who is a teacher, homeschooled her five children for many years, and now works with… -
opinion
DeSantis Gets Unexpected Boost From African-American ‘School-Choice Moms’
Conservative Republican Ron DeSantis and progressive Democrat Andrew Gillum presented voters with starkly different choices on an array of issues, none more distinctively polar than their plans for charter schools. In short, DeSantis proposed expanding them while Gillum espoused “siphoning them off” as drains on the public school system. That distinction—rather than the personalities and… -
opinion
Micro-Schools Offer Kids a Customized, Hands-On Education
There’s a world of difference between telling kids what they are supposed to know and teaching them how to learn. As parents look for more and better education options, the up-and-coming phenomenon of micro-schooling aims to bridge the gap between facts and experience with project-based learning. Although the micro-school movement launched in the U.S. and… -
opinion
Regulations Threaten to Limit Best Schooling Options for Children
What is the measure of a good school? And who is best positioned to decide what works? For decades, policymakers and education officials have attempted to bolster school “accountability” by increasing regulations on schools across the board—public, charter, and private. They have tried to do so at the federal level for half a century, with… -
news
4 in 10 College Students Say It Is OK to Disrupt a Speaker on Campus, Survey Finds
An overwhelming majority of American college students say they support the First Amendment, yet more than 4 in 10 think it’s OK to disrupt a speaker on campus. That’s according to findings released Thursday from the 2018 Buckley Program Survey sponsored by the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale University. The survey shows that… -
opinion
How School Choice Is Lifting Up Puerto Rico’s Children After Hurricane Maria
Thirteen months ago on Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria slammed the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, devastating homes and infrastructure and leading to loss of life across the island. The storm greatly exacerbated the problems of a school system already in crisis: Puerto Rican fourth- and eighth-graders, for example, are roughly five grade levels behind… -
opinion
Proof That ‘See Something, Say Something’ Can Stop a School Shooting
What could have been a news cycle about yet another mass school shooting in America instead focused on a different type of terrorism this week—suspicious packages sent to high-profile public figures, all of them critics of President Donald Trump. Thankfully, none of the apparent mail bombs actually detonated, and everyone is safe. Law enforcement authorities… -
opinion
Problematic Women: Meghan Markle Says University Education Is a ‘Right’
The Trump administration proposes changes to Title IX, Meghan Markle says university education is a “right” in her first royal tour speech, and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, reveals that she has been diagnosed with dementia. O’Connor was named to the highest court in the land by… -
opinion
A Better Way to Spend Our Education Dollars
With the recent release of a study on education spending, many are reiterating a hackneyed conclusion: that the U.S. needs to funnel more money into schools. The study, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, compared human capital, or the quality of a country’s workforce, in different developed countries…. -
opinion
The Daily Signal Podcast: Betsy DeVos on Giving States More Power in Education
Betsy DeVos received heaps of scorn from the left when she became education secretary, but since taking office last year, she’s accomplished much—and given a good deal of power back to the states. In this episode, Rob Bluey, our editor-in-chief, sits down with DeVos to talk about the progress being made. We also talk to… -
opinion
Segregation Is Back With a Vengeance on Campus. Academic Liberals Made It Happen.
I’m thankful that increasing attention is being paid to the dire state of higher education in our country. Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has just published “The Diversity Delusion.” Its subtitle captures much of the book’s content: “How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture.” Part of… -
opinion
Federal Education Programs Are Bloated and Failing. Now, Congress Wants to Give Them More Money.
Here we go again. Congress plans to ignore the glaring education policy errors of the past five decades—and, worse, spend even more money on them. As policymakers place the finishing touches on the Labor-Health-Education bill—a spending measure that funds education programs at the departments of Education and Health and Human Services—Americans stand to have more… -
news
By Any Other Name: White Students Get Safe Space at This University
Use of terms such as “safe space” and “white privilege” is increasingly common on college campuses, but when the University of Maryland at College Park announced creation of a weekly “safe space for white students” called White Awake, the negative response quickly prompted the school to change the name. Campus Reform reported the renaming Friday,… -
opinion
School Disciplinary Policies Must Be Local
The Trump administration is considering rescinding a “Dear Colleague” letter sent in 2014 to public school administrators nationwide, providing guidelines regarding school discipline policies consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. According to Title VI, racial discrimination at institutions receiving federal funds is illegal. The letter was sent to public school officials by… -
opinion
School Discipline Policy Belongs at the Local Level, Not Washington
Teacher unions and progressive special-interest groups cried foul earlier this year when the White House suggested that federal directives on school safety could be rescinded. But if a recent hearing held by the Federal Commission on School Safety is any indication, state and local policymakers don’t need Washington to micromanage student discipline policies. These state… -
opinion
We Hear You: Bringing Discipline Back to the Nation’s Public Schools
Editor’s note: As children return to school, discipline and safety are on many parents’ minds. One idea about how Education Secretary Betsy DeVos can make a difference drew responses from our audience. Be sure to write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Efficient and excellent teaching and learning cannot happen in a classroom without strict and… -
news
What These 6 University of Iowa Students Say About Mollie Tibbetts’ Death
IOWA CITY, IOWA—For students who attend the University of Iowa, the beginning of the school year brought the tragic news of their classmate Mollie Tibbetts’ death. Tibbetts’ body was found Tuesday in a corn field in Poweshiek County, Iowa. Tibbetts, a 20-year-old psychology major who would have begun her junior year this fall, was last… -
news
‘Small-Town Girl’ From Santa Fe Says Gun Control Won’t Solve School Shootings
Kaitlyn Richards was born and raised in Santa Fe, Texas. “I went to Santa Fe High School since I was in kindergarten, all the way through to senior year, and I’m just a small-town girl,” she told The Daily Signal. But on May 18, her small-town life changed when a school shooting left eight students… -
news
K-12 Schools Bringing in Drag Queens to Teach Gender Ideology
K-12 schools are bringing drag queens into the classroom to teach gender ideology, a Thursday video revealed. Teachers are praising “Drag Queen Story Hour,” according to a clip released by videographer Sean Fitzgerald and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The program “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and…