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opinion
Florida Takes Bolds Step in Teacher Preparation Standards
Eight months after becoming the first state in the nation to formally adopt the Phoenix Declaration, Florida’s State Board of Education has taken its most concrete step yet toward turning that document’s seven guiding principles into classroom practice. At its July 22 meeting, the board approved sweeping revisions to the state’s teacher preparation framework—amending the… -
opinion
Why Is Virginia’s Largest Public School District Spending so Much on Lawyers?
In just seven years, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has spent nearly $60 million on lawyers. During fiscal year 2026 alone, the district set a new record, spending $14.4 million on legal fees. Fiscal Year Legal Fees 2020 $6,401,078 2021 $5,066,049 2022 $6,312,989 2023 $6,925,475 2024 $11,619,332 2025 $7,656,968 2026 $14,440,784 Total $58,422,675 Source: Freedom… -
opinion
What the Nation’s Report Card Teaches Us About Repairing the Human Soul
Stories bemoaning U.S. student test scores have become a bromide. But some reports on student achievement offer a glimpse into the reasons why achievement is so poor. So it is with the latest Long Term Trend report from the Nation’s Report Card, the National Assessment of Education Progress. First, the results: Reading and math scores among 9-year-olds improved slightly over scores from 2022,… -
opinion
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Shows Education Can Be Fixed
Amid celebrations of our nation’s 250th birthday, Gallup serves up a sobering portrait of general dissatisfaction with our nation’s core institutions. “Confidence in U.S. institutions Remains Near All-Time Low,” reports Gallup. Of 14 core institutions—banks, big business, labor, the presidency, Congress, schools, health care, etc.—only 27% say they have “a great deal/quite a lot of… -
exclusive
Byron Donalds Unleashes MAHA Playbook to Protect Children’s School Lunches
Florida gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Byron Donalds announced on Friday a plan to remove ultra-processed food, artificial dyes, and harmful additives from Florida school meals and to guarantee every Florida child access to clean, tested water at school and at home. The plan is called Healthy Florida Healthy Families. Florida schools currently follow federal U.S. Department… -
opinion
K-12 Schools in California Need a DEI Audit
Watchdogs are discovering racist school curricula around the country, and these investigations can’t move fast enough. Kentucky and Indiana schools have been under the spotlight this summer, revealing the worst fears of American parents. The next stop should be California. In July, the Indiana Family Institute and the Kentucky state auditor released audits on schools… -
news
Democrat Gov. Denied: Kids’ Educational Scholarships Are Saved
Pennsylvania’s Republican-led Legislature has successfully pushed back against Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to cut two scholarship programs from the 2026–27 budget. Shapiro’s original budget proposal, HB 2632, called for eliminating two programs: the Educational Improvement Tax Credit and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit. The Pennsylvania Legislature successfully amended the budget to maintain the original scholarships and… -
opinion
School Daze
A Virginia elementary school teacher was tasked with also providing counseling to students who wanted to discuss their sexuality as part of a public-school division’s efforts to be “inclusive” of LGBTQ+ feelings. He had the title “Social Emotional Learning coach.” Did we mention this was at an elementary school? But wait, there’s more. Absurd as… -
opinion
New Kentucky Audit Shows Why Families Need Education Freedom
Kentucky State Auditor Allison Ball’s recent report on Jefferson County Public Schools should alarm every taxpayer and parent in the state. Not only because of the report’s contents, but also because JCPS is the state’s largest school district, serving 1 in 7 students in Kentucky. The audit not only highlights the dire financial situation the… -
news
K-12 Education Systems Hit With $225 Million Fraud Allegations
A coalition of state financial officers says it uncovered roughly $225 million in alleged fraud in American schools over the past six years, identifying nearly 90 cases involving embezzlement, fake invoices, inflated enrollment, bid-rigging, and kickbacks. As reflected in the new report from the State Financial Officers Foundation and Open the Books, investigators reviewed every… -
news
Communism, the Bible, and Personal Financial Literacy to Be Taught in Texas Schools
The Texas State Board of Education passed new measures, which were endorsed by Heritage Action, for K-8 schools that reaffirm the teachings of American history, Western values, Christianity, personal financial literacy, and the downsides of communism. The measures, which include teaching stories referenced in the Bible, will clearly paint the picture of America’s founding history… -
opinion
Report Shows Mass Failure in NYC Schools as Spending Keeps Soaring Under Mamdani
New York City, like so many other big, blue cities, serves as an excellent model for how spending overwhelming amounts of taxpayer money can get so much less than underwhelming results. A recent report created a damning picture of New York City public schools as mass factories of educational failure. New York Success Academy, a… -
news
The Mountain States Policy Center: Teaching Liberty Through Competition
On May 2, 2026, teams from Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming came together at the Idaho State Capitol to battle for the “We the Students: Mountain West Civics Cup.” The event was a regional high school competition aimed at engaging students in the study of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Mountain States Policy Center staged the event with the help of a $50,000 grant from… -
news
Bringing 1776 to Life: Harlan Institute Recognized for Revolutionary Civic Education Program
Imagine debating whether the American Colonies should break free from England as the Founding Fathers did in the shadow of the actual Declaration of Independence. Some high schoolers didn’t have to imagine, thanks to a grant from The Heritage Foundation. The Harlan Institute was awarded an America’s 250th Innovation Prize, a program supporting creative projects that educate Americans about the nation’s founding principles, strengthen civic… -
opinion
One Small Step for School Choice
When the One Big Beautiful Bill Act came up for a vote on the Senate floor on July 1 of last year, 50 senators voted for it, and 50 senators voted against it. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote in that chamber—so the bill could go back to the House for… -
news
Gov. Shapiro Abandoning 30,000 Children as PA Democrats Push to Strip School Choice
Pennsylvania Democrats rushed anti-school choice legislation Tuesday, bypassing regular order and sneaking up on Republicans. They aim to strip 30,000 children of educational scholarships, pocket the children’s scholarship money, and cut public charter school funding by $500 million. Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro was elected in part because of his promise to return educational choice to… -
breaking
Ed Department Transfers More Key Responsibilities in Next Moves to Dismantle Agency
The Department of Education is transferring two of its key responsibilities to other parts of the executive branch, marking the administration’s latest effort to wind down the agency’s operations. The agency is moving its Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services. OSER staff will work with HHS… -
opinion
The Academic Achievement Gap Is a Knowledge Gap
Children of married parents with high education levels are more likely to be healthy and succeed in school and life than their peers. Children from these families are also more likely to live above the poverty line and benefit from extracurricular activities such as music lessons, sports, and summer camp. These activities offer students prized… -
opinion
Fairfax Schools’ Pricey Legal Advice Disguised as ‘Independent Investigation’
Earlier this year, 13 girls attending Fairfax High School told school administrators that Israel Flores Ortiz, a 19-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador attending the school as a junior, groped their genitals in the hallway as they were transitioning between classes. In April, Ortiz was sentenced to 360 days in jail for multiple counts of… -
opinion
Parents Must Remain Vigilant Against the Ideological Colonization of Libraries
America’s culture war is still being fought, and New York is the latest flare-up. The state’s lawmakers recently introduced legislation that replaces the terms “father” and “mother” from state child custody laws, using gender-neutral language like “gestating parent” instead. The lesson for American parents? Remain vigilant. This isn’t a left-versus-right issue; it is the commonsense crowd—a strong…
