Education in Focus

School districts with diversity, equity and inclusion departments and organizations or individuals that offer professional development may use the term “intersectionality” on their websites, but what does it mean and what relationship does it have to critical race theory? Understanding the principles behind intersectionality and what it means can help add context to important and often divisive co...

The U.S. Department of Education has directed millions of federal funds toward equity assistance centers that provide teachers and administrators with resources positing views on controversial topics like comprehensive sex education and versions of critical race theory. The Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance (MAP) Center, one of the four regional technical assistance centers sponsored by the Edu...

The Biden administration’s Department of Education is asking for $82.4 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year, $3.1 billion more than the previous fiscal year to help students recover from school closure-related learning loss and bolster operations at the agency’s enforcement arm. In a House appropriations committee hearing this week, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona defended the Education Depa...

The Seattle Public School District says activities requiring students to provide information protected by federal and state law do not violate the statutes as long as teachers do not store the information without parental consent. Seattle Public Schools has defended its use of “social identity wheel” handouts in which students are asked to reflect on their "privilege" based on income, race, mental...

The Oklahoma Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday that it will use to determine the legality of what would be the nation’s first religious charter school, which received approval last year from the state's Virtual Charter School Board. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a lawsuit in October, claiming that the board’s approval of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter S...

A poll of likely voters found that the vast majority of people think schools should focus on traditional subjects like math, reading and science, and a majority also say critical race theory should not be taught. Nearly two-thirds of voters think parents should be informed if a student wants to change their name or pronoun at school. And most voters want schools to fairly present controversial iss...

The full report from the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the nonbinary teenager, whose death sparked international headlines and responses, died from suicide despite initial reports and claims linking the death to a fight at school. According to a copy of the full report released Wednesday and obtained by Chalkboard News, the chief medical examiner's office confirmed Nex Be...

A school district in Louisville, Kentucky, received bomb threats at four different schools this week, all of which were false alarms. The incidents highlight the rising rates of swatting, a hoax call that shuts down schools and scares students and their families. The hoax threats impacted Atherton High School, Ballard High School, Westport Middle School and Wilder Elementary School within the Jeff...

Because of changes made last year by the Michigan legislature, school districts in the Wolverine State will negotiate over more terms with teachers unions in the coming year as contracts set under the previous rules expire. One of those changes includes how teachers are evaluated, but the current evaluation system in Michigan may be riddled with inaccuracy. According to the state’s educator effect...

Michigan lawmakers and education officials have said they want to pass legislation to track homeschooled and religious school students. Critics, however, say the measures wouldn’t actually help. In January, State Superintendent Michael Rice included the proposal in a memo of legislative priorities for the upcoming session, citing concerns over children not receiving any education. Homeschool advoc...

A North Carolina school district reported a higher crime rate than the previous year after implementing an updated disciplinary policy for which it paid a nonprofit over $800,000 to help it create. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools reported fewer short and long-term suspensions for the school year and no expulsions, part of a broader shift toward equitable discipline. Critics say the changes ha...

Aurora Public Schools published a document that stated the district will not implement any program that doesn’t prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion. The board presented the document at its March 5 work session. The document  states : “The Superintendent may not allow implementation or adoption of any program that does not prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Get your Audible Member...

The Indiana General Assembly has voted to adopt legislation intended to counteract absenteeism at school by holding parents in the state responsible for their children’s attendance. The House and Senate voted to adopt SB 282 after back and forth between the chambers in prior days. The bill, if signed by the governor, would put parents at risk of prosecution if children are not in compliance with t...

A new national study looking at two decades' worth of data found that the United States is spending more on education funding without paying teachers more, school staff has increased faster than student enrollment and taxpayer dollars are increasingly going toward employee benefits. The report from the Reason Foundation also found that there isn’t a direct correlation between funding increases and...

A new policy brief states that “equitable” grading policies that rely on lowering academic standards ultimately hurt the students they purportedly help. The research released Wednesday morning by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute challenged some of the claims often made about equitable grading practices and said they require greater scrutiny. The brief also said it's time to adopt some reforms that...

A new survey has asked teachers and students about their experience amid significant cultural divides around gender, race and sexual orientation. According to a  survey analyses  from the Pew Research Center, 53% of teachers said debates about cultural issues like race and gender identity do not impact their ability to do their jobs. In comparison, 41% said the discussions on those issues negative...

The Chicago Public Schools Board of Education voted Thursday to approve a resolution to remove trained police officers from its schools by the beginning of next school year. The district-wide removal of police officers stems from a 2020 resolution requiring the district to “provide to the Board a comprehensive plan for schools currently using SROs (School Resource Officers) to phase out their use....

Students at James Madison High School in south Houston, Texas, staged a walkout last week to protest a new zero-tolerance policy banning student cell phone use on that campus. Some carried picket signs and gathered across the street from the high school, as seen in videos posted to X, formerly Twitter. Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles voiced support for the policy at a...

The National Center for Education Statistics released enrollment data for public schools, showing which states have increased student counts since the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures and which states have yet to see students return to those classrooms. The new data digest released this month by NCES shows that most states saw decreases in public school student enrollment between the...

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a school shooter who killed his classmates in November 2021 at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury. The decision on Tuesday marks a development for prosecutors looking to hold parents accountable for the crimes committed by their children as this is the first instance of a parent being charged with involunt...

A Boston Public Schools policy for the 2023-24 school year instructs staff not to inform parents if a student identifies as transgender or gender nonconforming unless legally required. School districts nationwide have put policies in place to protect the rights of transgender students, but parental rights advocates say guardians have a right to know if their child is changing their gender. Accordi...

A new report from researchers at Harvard University shows that students have started to recover from learning losses sustained during school closures related to COVID-19. Still, student achievement has not exceeded pre-pandemic performance, save in a few states. The  report  found that student achievement gaps that began during the pandemic between rich and poor districts have widened and called f...

Students of all ages at Seattle Public Schools can expect extra-curricular lessons on oppression and privilege, racism and transgenderism in the classroom this week as the district participates in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. The district disseminated a PowerPoint with resources for educators created by the Seattle Public Schools Black Education Department in collaboration with...

According to recent federal school climate and survey data, the number of schools reporting using school resource officers is declining. After racial justice protests a few years ago and calls to defund the police, school districts like Chicago are considering the role school resource officers play in keeping students safe and out of the justice system. National Center for Education Statistics dat...

Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Tuesday that he had appointed the creator of a social media account known for its outspoken criticism of sexualized materials in school libraries to an advisory board that will govern them. Walters announced Chaya Raichik, who created and operates an account on X, formerly Twitter, called “Libs of TikTok,” would be on the Oklahoma State Department of...