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 Conservatives Should Not Join Student Protesters’ Fight Against Woodrow Wilson
The arch-progressive Woodrow Wilson is under attack—but conservatives should not join the fray. Wilson is the latest target of modern liberalism in its war against the past. Our 28th president has recently drawn the ire of student protesters at Princeton, who want to scrub the university clean of his name and image because of his… -
news
College President Tells Students to ‘Grow Up’ Because Campus Not Meant to Be ‘Safe Space’
As debate heats up over “safe spaces” at campuses across the United States, one college president is standing up to students who claim they’re victims when their opinions are challenged. Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, called on students to “grow up” after he got a complaint from an undergraduate who felt “victimized” following an on-campus sermon on love. In a letter… -
news
Charter Schools Go Back to the Drawing Board in Washington State
Charter schools in Washington state face an uncertain future, leaving roughly 1,300 children and their families wondering what to do. As eight of nine new charter schools in the state navigate their first school year, the Washington Supreme Court upheld a decision that deemed the state’s charter school law unconstitutional. Liv Finne, director of education… -
opinion
Student Protesters React to Paris: ‘Pay More Attention to Us’
Millions of people worldwide were horrified to learn that Paris had been attacked by terrorists. But some supporters of the student protests at the University of Missouri had a unique reason for their dismay: outrage over what had happened in France was taking the spotlight off their grievances. “Wow, all this ruckus on the news… -
opinion
A Professor’s Take: College Student Protests Echo 1960s Protests
Recent student protests, which began at the University of Missouri and at Yale, are likely to spread across the country, given the reactions of both universities’ administrations. Is Yale a ‘Safe Space’? Could Yale be a safer place? Not only is there basically no crime on the Yale campus, but there are 86 full-time police… -
opinion
Federal Intervention in Schools Looks to Remain in Force Through Possible No Child Left Behind Deal
House and Senate proposals to rewrite No Child Left Behind are set to head into conference early next week, and details about an agreement struck between House and Senate offices have begun to emerge. As expected, the proposal adopts many of the priorities of Senate policymakers, further weakening any efforts to limit federal intervention in… -
opinion
Can Opposing Same-Sex Marriage Get You Fired at Marquette University?
MADISON, Wis.—John McAdams remains in professional limbo at his Jesuit school. The long-time Marquette University political science professor at the center of one of the most controversial academic freedom cases in higher education continues to wait for a faculty hearing committee’s decision on his professional fate. Marquette has said it intends to fire McAdams because of his blog post a… -
opinion
How a 1800s Anti-Catholic Law Is Ruining Kids’ Chance at a Quality Education
“Dismal.” “A train wreck.” That’s how people have characterized the results of this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP assesses fourth and eighth-graders’ performance in reading and math every other year. Test results had been trending upward since the early 1990s, but the results released last month indicated a drop in both math… -
news
They Claimed Giving All Students Free School Lunches Would Raise Test Scores. Here’s What Happened.
In 2014, education leaders ranging from the U.S. secretary of education down to local school officials promised that kids would do better if districts adopted a federal program that provides no-cost lunches to students regardless of financial need. It hasn’t worked out that way in Chattanooga, Tenn. Board members in charge of the Hamilton County School System voted… -
opinion
University of Missouri and Yale Show What Mob Rule Looks Like in Higher Education
America’s universities are supposed to be places where students can get an education. The vast majority of students want that. Some, however, do not. They want a “safe space” where their strange ideas about society can be aired without criticism, and where they can unilaterally punish other students for failing to toe the mass line…. -
news
As School Meals Have Gotten Healthier, 1.4 Million Students Drop Out of School Lunch Program
Michelle Obama’s healthy school meal standards have scored not too tasty. Over a span of three school years, 1.4 million children dropped out of the National School Lunch Program, reports the Government Accountability Office (GAO). While the first lady’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act has brought healthier items to lunch trays, sugary and salty foods that… -
news
How Dennis Prager’s Conservative Online University Reaches Millions
Radio host Dennis Prager and his business partner Allen Estrin had a big problem on their hands. It was October, 2013. Several years earlier, the duo—friends for decades—co-founded PragerU, a small digital university for conservatives with a modest audience. Now, a stranger was suing them. The man, a photographer in Ireland, alleged through a Houston… -
opinion
Is Planned Parenthood Targeting Schoolchildren?
Why is Planned Parenthood interested in a local school board election in the battleground state of Colorado? That is what parents and voters are asking themselves in Jefferson County, Colo., this week after Planned Parenthood waded into a local recall election aimed at ousting three Republican school board officials in the middle of their terms…. -
opinion
This School District Is Standing Up to the Federal Government’s Bullying Over Transgender Students and Locker Rooms
When it comes to locker rooms, does a public school have the right to say it should be restricted to of the students of the same physiological sex? Right now, a school district north of Chicago is squaring off with the federal government on that question. Township High School District 211, like many school districts,… -
news
Should Teachers Be Allowed to Ditch Their Classrooms to Work For the Union? Two Lawmakers Want to Stop Practice.
PHILADELPHIA—City schools are struggling to find teachers, but the district and local teachers union have an agreement that permits dozens of them to abandon their classrooms to go work for the union every year. As part of the contract between the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, up to 63 teachers… -
news
Boehner’s D.C. School Choice Program Passed by House: ‘We Owe the Kids in This City a Chance’
Speaker John Boehner cinched victory Wednesday as House Republicans smoothly extended his linchpin private school voucher program for low-income students through 2021. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program provides students in Washington’s struggling school districts with federally backed vouchers to attend a private school of choice. The House confirmed its reauthorization Wednesday evening in a near… -
news
Should Some High School Teachers Have to Have a Masters? In Minnesota, That’s a Fight
Minnesota educators, legislators, and students took turns at an unusual October legislative hearing, schooling the Higher Learning Commission’s top official on the “crippling effect” of a new HLC requirement for high school faculty teaching college-level classes to get master’s degrees. “The key to the Minnesota model for concurrent enrollment or dual credit programs is that they… -
news
Idaho Legislature Wants Stronger Protections for Parents. Idaho School Boards Say No.
A new Idaho School Board Association resolution reveals that the group wants the Idaho Legislature to “hold at bay any expansion of the parental rights in regard to education.” The resolution, one of a handful like it passed by the group’s central committee, suggests that parents’ rights might conflict with districts’ attempts to comply with federal… -
opinion
It’s Time for a Change in Education Funding
“We must provide a good education for every boy and girl—no matter where he lives,” President Lyndon B. Johnson declared in 1964. President Johnson sought and ultimately secured passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which would be a major element of the education component of his War on Poverty. Ineffective Title I… -
news
Teacher Unions Fight to Keep Their Clout in Right-to-Work States
Proposals to stop state and local governments from deducting union dues from their employees’ paychecks are likely to gain traction in coming months, those on both sides of the issue say. Such “payroll protection” measures arise as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide next year on a free speech challenge to rules compelling…