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
Betsy DeVos Hearing Highlights the Need for Less Government Control in Education
On Tuesday night, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a confirmation hearing for Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos. Devos, a longtime proponent of school choice, also fielded questions about her positions on higher education and preschool. The hearing turned into a vibrant debate among the senators about the merits of education choice,… -
opinion
What Went Wrong in US Higher Ed? Harvard Tells the Story
In 1636, the first college in our nation was founded for Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae (for Truth, for Christ, and for the Church). Since then, Harvard has had a profound—and sometimes profoundly bad—impact on the American system of higher learning. With the start of a new academic semester and 381 years of history, now is… -
news
They Grew Up in a Poor Neighborhood. How School Choice Changed These Brothers’ Lives.
Carlos and Calvin Battle grew up in the poorest neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where nearly two-thirds of children are living in poverty. In 2016, only 42 percent of students attending the local public high school graduated. In an attempt to get her sons a better education, their mother, Pam Battle, enrolled Calvin and Carlos in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship… -
news
Campus Disinvitations Hit Record Number in 2016, Report Says
The number of speakers who faced opposition or disinvitation this year reached a record high, according to a report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. FIRE, which has been tracking the number of incidents involving campus speakers since 2000, found that in 2016, at least 42 separate incidents occurred—double the number that occurred… -
opinion
Middle School Girl Gets Suspended for Possessing a Butter Knife
Who would have thought a butter knife could become the center of a school controversy? Last month, officials at Silver Trail Middle School near Miami, Florida, suspended an 11-year-old honors student for violating a county policy strictly prohibiting weapons on campus. The girl’s weapon of choice: a butter knife fit for a toddler. To highlight the… -
opinion
How Texas Can Lead the Charge on Education Choice
The debate around school choice has shifted from whether states should enact education choice to how best to accomplish that goal. In a special report released on Monday—co-published by The Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation—we discuss how this question will be especially important in Texas, which is considering adopting education savings accounts,… -
opinion
Setting the Record Straight on Detroit Charter Schools
The nomination of school choice supporter Betsy DeVos for the post of education secretary has reignited a lively debate over the impact of school choice and student-centered education financing. One case in point is a piece by Douglas Harris, who last Friday took to the pages of the The New York Times. In his piece,… -
opinion
How Infantilized Campuses Threaten Our Nation’s Future
What are we to make of higher education when students and institutions respond to the recent presidential election with cry-ins, canceled exams, therapy dogs, Play-Doh, coloring books, group screams, Legos, bubble-blowing, and trauma counseling? Well, college “ain’t what it used to be.” For some time, higher learning has been a political matter, one where the… -
news
President of National Teachers’ Union Cites Holocaust in Comments on Trump
The president of one of the nation’s largest teachers’ union cited the Holocaust in comments she made about President-elect Donald Trump while speaking at an LGBT event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. “After what happened in the 1930s and ’40s, we used to have a saying called ‘never again,’” Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation… -
opinion
Thomas Jefferson Now Politically Incorrect at the University He Founded
A group of students and professors at the University of Virginia want to give the founder of their school the shaft. In a letter to the university’s president, Teresa Sullivan, they asked her to remove Thomas Jefferson quotes from messages to students, according to the Washington Examiner. “For many of us, the inclusion of Jefferson… -
news
California Voters to Decide Whether Schools May Teach Students in Spanish
Voters in California will weigh in Tuesday on a decades-old debate about bilingual education in the state’s public school system. The outcome ultimately could determine whether California schools will continue to be required to teach in English, or may use Spanish or another language. Although largely overlooked in a crowded election season, the issue has… -
news
John Oliver Wonders How to Improve ‘Segregated’ Public Schools. Never Mentions Vouchers.
John Oliver, a comedian and political pundit, blasted what he called “racial segregation” in modern public schools. However, several school choice advocates took issue with the host’s rhetoric. In a sketch on his Sunday show “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” Oliver said there is significantly greater racial homogeneity in public schools than there was… -
news
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Transgender School Bathrooms Case
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a federal order requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity is lawful. The Obama administration issued a directive earlier this year requiring public schools to accommodate transgender students. The case before the Supreme Court originates in Gloucester County, Virginia. The… -
opinion
Student Loan Forgiveness Won’t Solve the $1.3 Trillion Problem
With outstanding student loan debt now exceeding $1.3 trillion, it is no wonder that the sticker price of college tuition has gotten a lot of attention in 2016. Yet few proposals have gotten to the root of the college cost problem. Despite overwhelming evidence that more federal subsidies for higher education increase tuition prices, policies… -
news
Student Sues Over Iowa State’s ‘Speech Code’
A 34-year-old student at Iowa State University is suing the school over what he calls an “unconstitutional speech code.” The student, Robert Dunn, says the university is forcing him to compromise his First Amendment rights by complying with “overly broad and vague” anti-discrimination and harassment policies. Failing to agree to abide by the policies, he… -
news
University Threatens to ‘Silence’ Professor Protesting Genderless Pronouns
A psychology professor at the University of Toronto who is protesting a law that would force him to use certain pronouns for transgender and other gender nonconforming individuals says the school is trying to “silence” him. “The university, yesterday, basically told me to silence myself,” Jordan Peterson told The Daily Signal. “That's the second warning… -
opinion
How Education Savings Accounts Changed the Life of This Child With Down Syndrome
Giving parents control over their child’s education through personalized education savings accounts has transformed the lives of numerous underserved students. The story of Faith Kleffel exemplifies the promise of enabling children to access the type of education options that meet their learning needs. Faith, who has Down syndrome, uses an education savings account (ESA)—known as… -
opinion
Millennial Cluelessness About Communism’s Massacres Demonstrates the Need for School Choice
American education is failing thousands of students every year. But this crisis is not just about poor scores in math and reading. It is a deeper failure, leaving entire generations of Americans without the most basic knowledge of the country’s past and its civic institutions. As The Daily Signal reported, the Victims of Communism Memorial… -
news
Backlash Ensues After NAACP Ratifies Charter School Ban
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) ratified its stance against charter schools on Saturday, passing a resolution that calls for a halt to the growth of any new charter schools throughout the U.S. The position put the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization at odds with many inside its own… -
opinion
This Lawsuit Isn’t Answer for Detroit Students Wanting a Decent Education
Detroit school students, represented by the Los Angeles-based public interest firm Public Counsel, filed suit last month against the state of Michigan, claiming a legal right to literacy based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Ninety-three percent of Detroit’s predominantly black public school eighth-graders are not proficient in reading, and 96 percent are not…