Education in Focus (America's Talking Network)

Earlier this month, a Texas special education teacher pleaded guilty to soliciting explicit photos from minors. The high school teacher posed as a 19-year-old boy to solicit the photos from a 14-year-old girl. The exploitation of children by teacher Juan Carlos Munoz highlights how adults posing as young people exploit minors, which federal law enforcement agencies say has been on the rise and must be discussed before it is committed. A Homeland Security Investigations special agent, Craig Larrabee, said in a press release that Munoz “abused his position of public trust as a special education teacher to prey on those he was entrusted to protect.”

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As school board candidates run and win on more conservative-leaning platforms promising public school reforms, alternatives to traditional school board member associations have launched in states like Virginia and Pennsylvania in an attempt to redefine the role. Alternatives for conservative-leaning school board members have proven to be contentious, but proponents say they are following the law and holding school systems more accountable to promote student success. The York County School Board in Yorktown, Virginia, recently debated whether to use an alternative to the Virginia School Board Association. 

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As gun violence remains a significant threat across the country, states, districts and schools debate ways to increase safety. But policies allowing teachers to carry weapons in school remains controversial. A school in Ohio made news last week after signs posted outside the school announced that teachers were armed, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Survey data from last year shows staff approved of the measure in that district, pointing to wider educator approval that has surprised experts. 

Cheating is nothing new. But the methods of how it’s done are constantly changing. There is currently a market hidden in plain sight for the subset of students looking to graduate high school without completing their online coursework. 

Chicago Public Schools asked an HIV drug manufacturer to sponsor a district-wide event for LGBTQ+ students as young as 10 years old earlier this year in exchange for sponsorship benefits like logo placement and a shout out during the opening session. Global specialty pharmaceutical company Viiv Healthcare said it would give $10,000 to the district’s Galaxy Summit event earlier this year to qualify as a platinum sponsor after the district asked if it would want to help fund the event early this year, according to public records obtained by Chalkboard News. CPS declined to comment on its solicitation of donations from the HIV drug company and pointed Chalkboard to its previous statement that said CPS “aims to create a safe, inclusive and respectful school environment for every student.” The school district has not yet publicly commented on its agreement with Viiv Healthcare. 

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Video platform TikTok has said that videos and accounts that promote online courseware cheating violate its policy governing frauds and scams, but reporting the videos doesn’t seem to have an effect and at least one removed account has returned. Last month, Chalkboard flagged two accounts that appear to violate TikTok’s policy on frauds and scams, which the company previously said governs accounts promoting cheating services to students using online classes. They are still operating and offering to help students complete their work. 

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A group of publishers, authors and individuals filed a lawsuit against Florida’s Board of Education and several school districts over book removals, which they say violates the First Amendment rights of publishers, authors and students. Thursday’s lawsuit specifically targets portions of the 2023 law which mandated the Department of Education create a parental objection form to allow parents and residents to complain about books in libraries or classrooms “without consideration of their value as a whole in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” The lawsuit stated that many classic books have been removed from school libraries, including Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughter-House Five,” Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and others. 

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As millions of students across the country prepare to go back to traditional public school, some estimates are that over three million K-12 students will soon begin their semesters at home for various reasons. Brian D. Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) — a non-profit group that collects data regarding homeschooling — shared with Chalkboard News that his “best estimate” is that there are “slightly more” kids learning at home in 2022-2023 than 2021-2022. He caveated that while his estimates for 2022-23 were not yet finalized, the initial estimates for the total number of homeschooled K-12 students “might have barely moved up to 3.2 million.” 

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A California school district says parents have the right to review the sex education their students receive, but it is silent about whether that policy applies to one high school’s student-created materials that reportedly discuss polyamory and gender identity. At Berkeley High School, students do teach other students about sex, according to a description of the school’s Sexual Health Information from Teens (SHIFT) program. They are overseen by unlicensed “educators” who are paid by the federal agency AmeriCorps. 

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One issue Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias put in the national spotlight during testimony to a U.S. Senate committee this week was that of access to controversial books. The Democratic statewide official promoted the Illinois measure he spearheaded to withhold taxpayer-funded grants to public and school libraries that he said “ban books.” Meanwhile others argue that this is not an issue of censorship but of discretion.

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 issues in school.

A government accountability nonprofit says the federal government’s school system has injected controversial topics and statements into classrooms and professional development at taxpayers’ expense. OpenTheBooks released a report on the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) this week and pointed to what it calls “extreme radical pedagogical practices under the umbrella of ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).’” The DoDEA did not respond to comment in time for publication. The report found that the government-run school district, which operates on behalf of military families stationed in the United States and abroad, has spent about $300 million a year on contracts since 2017 and that millions have gone to vendors offering DEI-related content.

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Emails obtained by Chalkboard revealed how board members at a Tallahassee charter school handled complaints from parents arguing Michelangelo’s “David” and other famous works were not appropriate for students. Tallahassee Classical School made international headlines in March when principal Hope Carrasquilla told the Tallahassee Democrat that she was forced out of her position after parental objections to a sixth-grade art lesson on the Renaissance. The school says that characterization is false. The new details of what parents said about the artwork come as school districts nationwide struggle to agree on what is age-appropriate material for children, especially regarding library books.

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 education outcomes. The report also used nationwide data to highlight how education outcomes in all 50 states have changed between 2002 and 2020.

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A Tennessee law meant to curb school violence has reportedly been used again to penalize younger students, allegedly leading a 10-year-old to be expelled for an entire year after making a finger gun gesture. The state’s zero-tolerance law for school violence, which was passed after a shooter killed six people at The Covenant School in Nashville, has been invoked in several alleged instances where school administrators disciplined students with expulsion or arrest for making threats. According to a report from ProPublica last week, one unnamed Tennessee school district first suspended a student for making a finger gun gesture with his hands and then notified parents that he would not be allowed to attend the district for a year. 

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Thousands of teachers have left their unions in recent years, and alternative organizations are offering services as alternatives to those provided by the largest teachers unions: the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The Freedom Foundation announced this week that it will be launching the Teacher Freedom Network in January 2025 for teachers who want to leave the teachers union. The organization will offer options that unions typically offer like liability insurance coverage options, professional development and grievance support. 

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Flint Community Public Schools said Friday that a fight between students led to a teacher being harmed. A viral video reportedly of the event shows a student throwing a chair and hitting the teacher on the head. Reports also say that the teacher was unconscious and hospitalized.

Even after losing its position as the third largest school district in the country, Chicago Public Schools continues to seek budget expansions for building investments, despite more empty schools. The district’s 2023 Education Facilities Master Plan identifies a rapid need for investments, especially for the school systems’ aging buildings. But between the 2013-14 school year and the 2022-23 school year, CPS enrollment has dropped by nearly 20%, or 78,439 students. Despite enrollment declines, the district is asking for more over $14 billion to update its buildings. 

Two teachers were fired from a Tennessee high school in a board meeting last week over allegations that they changed and interfered with almost 1,500 student grades at the behest of a former principal of the year. Teachers allegedly modified student’s courses so they would not have to learn. A document presented to the board by an Anderson County School official says former Clinton High School principal Dan Jenkins instructed teachers Rachel Jones and Clay Turpin to manipulate online course data in order to improve the district’s graduation rate. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

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Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis-Gates, who has been outspoken against the state's school choice program, is sending her child to a private school, according to reports. Davis-Gates took office in 2022 to lead the third largest teachers union in the country. Since taking office, Davis-Gates has publicly spoken out against the Invest in Kids Act, which allows people to pay for scholarships for students to attend private schools rather than attend public schools in Chicago or throughout the state.

Americans are unhappy with how schools handle student behavior issues and how school discipline policies are enforced, which can have an effect on school safety, according to a July 19 poll. Parental rights organization Parents Defending Education commissioned the poll conducted by CRC Research. The poll found that 40% of those surveyed think schools are doing a poor job enforcing student behavior policies and said school disruptions have increased in the past year.

Researchers who analyzed an Algebra I online credit recovery course from Edmentum say it failed to challenge students, was vulnerable to cheating via Google searches and reused the same test questions. In a new paper that is under peer review, researchers at Vanderbilt University and Georgia State University have quantified how virtual credit recovery classes, which are often provided to students who have previously failed a course, are easily manipulated, reuse questions and fail to engage students at a higher level. After Chalkboard reported on the analysis of Edmentum’s online credit recovery course, the company responded that assessment results show its courseware is effective at boosting student knowledge and that it prioritizes academic integrity. 

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case against Michigan’s Blaine amendment, which restricts most public funds from going toward private schools. Five families sued the state in September 2021, arguing that the state’s Blaine amendment violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution because they were not allowed to use Michigan’s Education Savings Plan for private school tuition. 

After the shooting at Apalachee High School in metro Atlanta last week, schools nationwide have closed due to threats, and dozens of students have been arrested. But what causes the uptick in school shooting threats after a mass shooting? According to Jaclyn Schildkraut, the executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, it’s not clear whether shooting threats actually increase or whether people are just more vigilant. But she said there are ways to reduce the likelihood of future attacks and threats. 

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U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona described several bright spots amid an otherwise bleak announcement this week that there has been no past-pandemic recovery for reading and mathematics based on test scores of 13-year-olds tested last year.

Chicago Public Schools adopted a policy last year to honor academic credits received during virtual classes, citing equity as one of the reasons underpinning the policy as well as the benefits of the online instruction model. But as Chalkboard reported last year, researchers have questioned the efficacy of virtual learning and raised concerns that virtual credit recovery classes actually hurt those who need help the most. A spokesperson from Chicago Public Schools said the district would not provide a comment to Chalkboard News about virtual credit recovery classes in response to questions about the district's policy adopted in May last year, which added a section about equity in the implementation of virtual learning. 

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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 have made conditions worse for students because disruptive students are not removed from class.

A practice once used in the criminal justice system is now preferred by the nation's top law enforcement and education agencies who say schools should use it to prevent discrimination.  Restorative justice or restorative practices have in the past decade or so become more regular terms in school buildings across the country as an alternative to hard-line disciplinary policies that before dominated districts. But is the new approach to discipline actually working? 

A large majority of voters say that public schools should focus on the basics – math, reading, writing, science and social studies – to improve the quality of public education in the country. That's according to the latest The Center Square’s Voters' Voice poll conducted in late October in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights. The poll results come as the nation has seen academic achievement declines since school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as cultural debates about gender ideology and curriculum content roil parents and communities in school board meetings across the country.

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 Education Department, provides resources based on critical race theory to schools and educators and directs them to override parental rights on sex education. The MAP Center is housed in the Great Lakes Equity Center at the Indiana University School of Education-IUPUI.

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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 teachers and academics. The resource highlights activities for teaching students the 13 principles and four demands of Black Lives Matter at School.

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Mariyah Green was a junior when she transferred during the 2018-19 school year from a charter school to Bogan High School, where she played volleyball and basketball. Green had no idea when she transferred to Chicago Public Schools that she would end up suing the school, alleging violations against her First Amendment rights. She told Chalkboard that students were made to participate in the district’s Quiet Time program, where instructors encouraged students to participate in transcendental meditation, including initiation rites conducted in a darkened classroom. She was recently awarded $75,000 for damages and legal fees in a judgement. 

 Over half of U.S. states now require high school students to receive a financial literacy course before they graduate after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday passed by the California Legislature. With the passage of California’s law requiring schools to offer a course in personal finance by the 2027-28 school year and requiring the class of 2031 to receive at least one class, a total of 26 states now require students to take a course on how to manage money, according to a nonprofit spearheading efforts to pass such laws. While students are learning about the cost of living, how to balance their budget and file taxes, a Senate appropriations committee analysis of the legislation says implementing its requirements may cost the state an additional $200 million a year. 

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This week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas sent a letter to over 50 school districts in that state, claiming their dress codes are in violation of a state law aimed at protecting students from hair discrimination. In a press release, the ACLU of Texas announced it sent letters to 51 districts, demanding they update their policies to comply with the law. Earlier this year, however, a judge ruled that a school district’s grooming policy did not violate the CROWN Act. The CROWN Act prohibits discrimination based on hairstyle and hair texture. 

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Taxpayer-funded equity-focused events directed school employees to push public school boards to focus on race and gender, encouraged staff to focus on “disrupting whiteness” and promoted ideologies that critics say lay “the groundwork for a communist worldview.” Chalkboard reviewed recordings of federally sponsored virtual roundtables and events where presenters promoted controversial ideas like critical race theory, intersectionality and critical consciousness for school administrators, teachers and staff. A September virtual roundtable discussion focused on “disrupting racism at the intersections in schools” and used the definition of intersectionality created by the founder of critical race theory Kimberlé Crenshaw. 

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A new report from the National Retail Federation found that back-to-school shopping is expected to cost consumers an all-time high. The industry association found families purchasing for K-12 students are expected to spend an average of about $890, about $25 more than last year.

Former secretary of education Betsy DeVos said Friday that the Biden administration's finalized Title IX rule change has "gutted" five decades of protections for women and girls and replaced it with "radical gender theory." The Biden administration’s Department of Education has finalized its long-anticipated Title IX rule that expands the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity and pregnancy. Critics of the federal rule finalized Friday say that it rewrites the scope of the statute intended to prohibit sex discrimination at federally funded schools and institutions of higher learning. Proponents say the changes are necessary to protect all students. A separate rule on transgender athletes has not yet been finalized.

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The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights said in a report that over two-thirds of all Title IX complaints came from one individual as it seeks to increase its staff for the next fiscal year. The branch of the education agency that enforces federal funding statutes tied to civil rights legislation said 5,590 out of 8,151 complaints related to alleged sex discrimination came from one person, continuing a consistent trend where an individual has filed thousands of cases every year.  According to the annual report to the president and secretary of education, the OCR said that it had seen the largest number of complaints ever during the 2023 fiscal year (FY).

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The Chicago Public School Board of Education isn’t planning on shutting down charter schools in the city yet, but is poised to direct money away from those schools between 2025 and 2029 in a broader effort to move away from ranking schools against each other. The board adopted the resolution in a unanimous vote on Thursday during its regular meeting, signaling the districts “transition away from privatization.” Board members said school choice pits schools and students against each other and said the district would reimagine the system to promote equity. Advocates and students of charter schools in the city spoke to the board, highlighting the impact charter schools have had for those in the city seeking a high-quality or specialized education. 

Chicago Public Schools used over $47,000 in federal funds for an event “to learn about and celebrate the galaxies of gender, sexuality and love” which taught 10-to-18 year old students how to be activists and reminded them they do not need to ask their parents before changing their name or pronouns at school. A portion of the district’s 2024 Galaxy Summit was sponsored by a HIV pharmaceutical company called Viiv Healthcare, which CPS said paid $9,000 for a catered lunch for students. The company, however, says it sponsored more than just the lunch of the March 2 event and provided resources to students. 

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The U. S. Department of Education announced a Title IX rule change Thursday that would prohibit blanket bans on transgender students who participate in sports in favor of a number of factors intended to balance fair competition and allowing students to play on a team matching their gender identity. The proposed rules have been met with condemnation from politicians on both sides of the aisle and conservative groups while teachers unions and progressive groups hailed the proposed changes as a win for transgender athletes.

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.”

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores show U.S. students scored significantly worse on math than in 2018 and declines in all subjects. It also found that increased spending had less to do with student outcomes than how the funds are used. PISA also noted that lower math test scores were associated with lower parental involvement.

A federal court ruling waved a caution flag on school district policies requiring teachers to hide student gender identity from parents after granting a temporary reprieve to two teachers who sued their school district over the rules. The decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California last week to grant a preliminary injunction for the teachers comes as the state sues school districts for parental notification policies and highlights the murky legal grounds underpinning the state’s guidance school districts cite in creating gender identity policies. 

A federal judge in Virginia has ordered that a transgender middle school student can try out and play on the girls tennis team after the school board told the unnamed student she would not be able to be on the team. Last week's ruling comes as several courts are expected in the coming months to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX, the federal statute prohibiting sex discrimination in educational institutions. The Hanover County School Board in Hanover, Virginia, had previously denied the student a place on the tennis team, citing its policy on transgender students. The federal judge overturned the policy while litigation is ongoing, arguing that the school board should have created an exception for the student based on federal law. 

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Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signaled that he supports school choice measures as the state Legislature began discussions Thursday around the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success Program. Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania state house are the latest to discuss expanding school choice measures that allow public funds to follow students to private schools.

A federal judge is allowing a class action lawsuit against the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education over its use of the “Quiet Time” transcendental meditation program, which allegedly required student participation and incorporated Hindu rituals. Chicago Public Schools stated it ended the Quiet Time program in 2020 and that it denies any liability related to the program, which former students allege violated their constitutional rights because of the religious aspects of the program.

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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 fall of 2019 and the fall of 2022, with only a handful of states gaining students overall. Public schools have not regained students who stopped attending during the pandemic. 

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 promote equitable grading without sacrificing rigor. 

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Biden administration can’t implement its Title IX rules in an additional four states, bringing the total number of statewide injunctions to 26. With a recent block awarded in Oklahoma on Wednesday and then an emergency appeal granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, over half of the United States will be exempt from the Thursday deadline. The new Biden administration rules add gender identity to prohibitions on sexual discrimination in Title IX, including requiring schools to allow students to use a bathroom and locker room that aligns with their gender identity.

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New federal data shows white students are more likely than their peers to report being harassed or bullied because of their sex or disability. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released data this week from a survey of district-level data on student discipline, harassment and educational access conducted in the 2020-21 school year. The data shows white students were much more likely to report bullying or harassment on account of their sex or disability than other groups.

The Pacific Research Institute released a study in September reviewing the impacts of the various approaches states took when dealing with the pandemic. The study concluded: "The states that implemented policies categorized as more stringent tended to have fewer COVID-19 infections and fewer COVID-19 mortalities per 100,000 people. These states have also experienced increases in other causes of mortality that may fully offset the reduction in COVID-19 mortalities, larger economic consequences, and larger education losses for children."

The Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted on a resolution Tuesday to revise its 2011 school cell phone policy to ban phones for students during school hours with few caveats. After a board vote, it chose to approve the resolution, 5-2, with board members George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson voting against the decision to begin banning phones during the entire school day. The board’s resolution says that “within 120 days, the Los Angeles Unified School District shall develop and present to the public at a board meeting updated cell phone and social media policies to prohibit student use of cell phones and social media platforms district-wide during the entire school day.”

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The Biden administration has proposed sweeping changes to expand the nation’s law prohibiting sex discrimination in the nation’s schools to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Final action on the rule is not expected until at least March next year, but legal challenges would likely arise upon its implementation. The Department of Education says that the rules protect students and try to strike a balance between concerns over fairness and safety with the benefits of allowing transgender students to play. Critics, however, say the rule burdens girls and illegally rewrites the law.

Notable author and outspoken scholar Ibram X. Kendi told educators and others in a taxpayer funded equity webinar Thursday that influencing school systems offers a “bigger bang for your activism” and said "antiracist" education should start before age 3. A Wisconsin state agency paid Kendi $15,000 using federal special education funding for a wide-ranging one hour and 15 minute “generative conversation” on antiracism. During the conversation, Kendi said kids should be getting an antiracist education and the current education system damages children. Another presenter, Laura Minero, told educators and equity workers  that “we want our children to be queer” and stressed the importance of gender-affirming care, which has been prohibited by dozens of states.

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'Antiracist' speaker calls schools 'dangerous' and wants to drive out those who ban books

Taxpayer-funded equity event tied invention of 'gender binary to anti-Blackness'

With the return of students to class, hoax calls that shut down school buildings are also back. The calls, which tell authorities that there are active shooters at schools, scare students, staff and parents and can be dangerous for both law enforcement and those at the scene. There were several hoax threats and swatting calls this week across the country, from Illinois to Georgia.

Nevada lawmakers voted Wednesday not to divert federal COVID-19 relief funds toward expanding the Opportunity Scholarship program in the state after about six hours of discussion and testimony. Members of the Interim Finance Committee, comprised of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means from the last legislative session, voted down party lines to reject Gov. Joe Lombardo’s funding proposal. The Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program, also known as the Opportunity Scholarship, was created in 2015 by the state’s legislature to provide need-based scholarships for students whose families live under 300% of the federal poverty line, according to the state’s website. 

A state board governing Georgia’s teacher training programs will vote this afternoon on whether to remove words like “equity,” “social justice” and “diversity” from educator training guides and replace them with values that promote “fairness” to remove controversial language. 

A new parents bill of rights took effect Thursday in Washington, but State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal is telling school districts to ignore it. The measure approved by lawmakers back in March was introduced by a voter initiative. Supporters said it was a way to ensure parents don’t feel left out of their child’s education and, among other things, have access to medical or counseling records if children are questioning gender identity or sexual orientation.

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The U.S. Department of Education released guidance for school administrators that offers insights into how districts should implement and weigh the risks of artificial intelligence for teachers and students – but not when it comes to how students are using it.

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 Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee. The Library Media Advisory Committee offers guidance and recommendations to the Oklahoma State Board of Education pursuant to Oklahoma Administrative Codes and is "aimed at removing pornographic or sexualized content from public schools in the State of Oklahoma," according to a spokesperson from the Department of Education.

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After the California Department of Education issued guidance that schools should not disclose students’ gender-related record change requests to parents, some California school districts adopted rules requiring parents to be notified if their children request to officially change their pronouns, go by a different name, or use facilities or school programs for children of the opposite gender. California Attorney General Rob Bonta responded by supporting lawsuits against these school districts, and the current bill in question, AB 1955. AB 1955, introduced by Assembly member Chris Ward, D-San Diego, would ban parental notification policies, and expand resources for LGBTQ+ students and families. 

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A Rhode Island mother is suing her child’s former school district after the school initially denied her public records requests about her child’s curriculum and other school policies, and the local teachers union sued her to try to get her to stop. Nicole Solas, who had a kindergartener enrolled in the South Kingstown School District in 2021, wanted to know more about what was being taught at her child’s school and policies, but as she began asking questions, she was met with resistance. Soon, Solas began filing hundreds of public records requests requesting curriculum and emails from school leaders in an attempt to obtain answers. 

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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 advocates say a registry will not help protect students, and better enforcement of existing rules is needed.

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Utah has permanently removed over a dozen books from public schools per a new state law governing “sensitive instructional materials.” The targeted books include titles by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Sarah J. Maas and Rupi Kaur. Critics have been outspoken against the new state law, which took effect July 1, which “requires the prioritization of protecting children from illicit pornography over other considerations in evaluating instructional material.” The state’s running list as of Aug. 2 shows 13 books that “have been determined to contain objective sensitive materials in a final determination.” 

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Several Oklahoma school leaders have reportedly signaled their opposition to the state’s top education official over a mandate to include the Bible in classroom instruction sent out last month. While several school leaders have said they are opposed to the mandate or will not implement it and instead rely on previous state standards, school districts have been hesitant to offer official positions. Several outlets in the state have reported backlash to Walters’ mandate from late last month requiring schools to teach students about the Bible in grades 5-12. The requirement, as Chalkboard previously reported, was also met with criticism from lawmakers. 

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A federal judge ruled earlier this week that New Hampshire laws limiting classroom discussions around critical race theory and divisive topics are unconstitutionally vague and violate the Fourteenth Amendment. New Hampshire was one of the dozens of states to pass laws limiting classroom instruction related to the legal framework that seeks to explain how racism permeates societal institutions, which critics of critical race theory call “divisive.” The law was challenged by the New Hampshire chapter of the ACLU as well as teachers unions in the state, who were concerned with what they could teach students given the scope of the law. The judge agreed that the laws were too vague. 

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Test scores have continually demonstrated that students across the nation lost academic ground during the pandemic, so why are some districts touting higher graduation rates than before the pandemic? Do graduation rates mean students know everything they should? School districts across the nation have posted high graduation rates, despite test scores that show student achievement declines since the COVID-19 pandemic. Research suggests that the high graduation rate across the country comes from lower standards, not increased learning. 

Two separate Tennessee families filed a joint federal lawsuit on behalf of their children against Bill Lee, the governor of Tennessee, and the Williamson County Board of Education. The lawsuit claims that on separate occasions, a child from each family (students in the William County School District) was wrongfully arrested, incarcerated and suspended as a result of the district’s interpretation of the new Tennessee statute requiring a “zero tolerance” policy for “threats of mass violence.” The lawsuit claims that “none of the speech attributed to the minor plaintiffs rose to the level of a threat of mass violence or amounted to actions that a reasonable person would conclude could lead to the serious bodily injury, as defined in § 39-11-106, or the death of two (2) or more persons,” which was the definition set forth in the statute.

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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 Jefferson County Public Schools, according to JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said schools should not keep students home amid reports that the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise this fall, propped up by new variants of the virus that causes the disease. Responding to a question during a back-to-school bus tour, Cardona said schools should stay open and focus on communication and practicing health protocols that were present at the height of the pandemic. 

While the Montana Legislature passed measures that would enable the state to begin approving charter schools last year, a lawsuit could dramatically delay when the publicly-funded alternatives to traditional public schools would be able to open. The “Treasure State” passed HB 562 in 2023, establishing the Community School Choice Commission, tasked with approving prospective charter schools, also known as “Community Choice Schools.” But its implementation has been challenged in the courts. 

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Students at a Detroit combined virtual school took their online credit recovery courses 20 times faster than the courseware provider suggests in the 2023-24 school year. According to a public records request filed with Detroit Public Community School District, students took their 11th and 12th-grade English language arts classes in about four hours, while the courseware provider Edgenuity recommends students spend 80 hours on such courses. All 23 students who took the 11th-grade ELA online credit recovery class at Detroit Lions Academy completed the course in four hours, 14 minutes and 20 seconds of active time, with an average grade of 86%. 

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Arkansas is getting help from other states in its defense of an injunction that halted a portion of the LEARNS Act. U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky issued a ruling in May that keeps Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and the Department of Education from enforcing a portion of the law that requires a review of items "that may purposely or otherwise, promote teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as Critical Race Theory, otherwise known as 'CRT', that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law or encourage students to discriminate against someone based on the individual's color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law." The injunction does not affect an executive order issued by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January 2023 that bans the teaching of critical race theory in Arkansas schools, but Judge Rudofsky said the executive order and the section in question are similar.

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After a recent showdown with Gov. Gavin Newsom, a California school board has approved a middle school social studies curriculum that it previously rejected over opposition to materials that mention the gay historical figure Harvey Milk. The Temecula Valley Unified School District school board voted in a special meeting Friday to approve the curriculum after Newsom said the state would provide textbooks that align with state standards and fine the school for failing to provide materials that do so.

Earlier this year, Chalkboard News highlighted how students can cheat on online classes and assignments using social media platforms and other new tools. But do social media platforms prohibit academic dishonesty? TikTok has clarified that videos promoting academic dishonesty violate its community guidelines and will be removed. Meta, which owns Instagram, did not respond to Chalkboard’s request for comment on its policies despite the proliferation of accounts offering to complete student’s work for a fee. 

New poll results show that the majority of likely voters say artificial intelligence shouldn’t be in schools because it makes it too easy to cheat. The Voter’s Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights for The Center Square (which, like Chalkboard News, is owned and operated by the Franklin News Foundation) found that over two-thirds of likely voters say they think AI should stay out of schools. The recent poll of nearly 2,300 likely voters found that 68% agreed with the statement that “AI should be kept out of schools” because “it makes cheating too easy.” Only 22% were in favor of keeping AI in schools with the rest saying they were not sure. 

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Should states hold back third-graders who can’t read well enough? That’s the question Ohio legislators are considering along with legislation that would remove that state’s third-grade reading law. The Buckeye state isn’t alone: Several state houses have recently passed laws concerning holding students back if they can’t read at grade level.

Leaders of the Oakland Education Association in Oakland, California, called on school leaders to stand in solidarity with Palestinians and called for a ceasefire as tensions between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel continue to increase. The union’s leadership shared curriculum resources it encouraged educators to employ in their classrooms, which accuse Israel of carrying out genocide and ethnic cleansing, something a Jewish parent said is concerning for her family as antisemitism is on the rise. Megan Bacigalupi, a Jewish parent of students who attend schools in the Oakland Unified School District, said the union leaders’ statement is concerning given the increase in antisemitic incidents nationwide and in the area, including graffiti and the removal of hostage posters for Israelis taken to Gaza. 

Chicago Public Schools says it is “reviewing” its approach to school safety as the board of education has reportedly considered removing school resource officers from buildings in the city. CPS is expected to “provide updates in the coming months,” according to a statement from a district spokesperson. But reports say the board has already decided to remove police officers from schools and could vote on the action as soon as this month. 

A debate over whether New York City’s classrooms are overcrowded is mounting between the city’s teachers union and the public school system. The United Federation of Teachers says hundreds of thousands of students are subjected to overcrowded classes, while the New York City Public Schools says it is in compliance with the law. A recent survey from the city’s teachers union asserted that over 300,000 students who attend Title I schools in the city are in overcrowded classrooms that are out of compliance with a state law that limits class sizes. 

The parent of a student who faced persistent antisemitism at a Westport, Connecticut school says administrators tried to silence him and his family through the terms of a settlement.  Andrew Goldberg, the parent of a middle-school student at Westport Public Schools, said in an opinion piece in Newsweek last week that administrators offered to pay for a year’s worth of tuition at a private school if he and his family would never talk about what led up to the settlement. The school’s attempt to sweep the incidents under the rug received pointed criticism from Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. 

A federal judge has struck down the Biden administration’s rule expanding the definition of Title IX to include gender identity in six states, the latest in a salvo of legal challenges against the changes intended to protect LGBTQ+ students in recent days. Monday’s injunction from the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky prevents the Department of Education from implementing its proposed rulemaking ahead of its Aug. 1 effective date in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia. The court said in its ruling Monday that the state of Tennessee is likely to prevail in its lawsuit and that the new rule is not in line with the intent of the 1972 funding statute to protect educational opportunities for women in education settings and violates the Constitution.

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At the Republican primary debate last week, presidential hopefuls disparaged the state of education in the nation, with some candidates advocating for the abolition of the U.S. Department of Education and the promotion of school choice options. It’s an issue that seems sure to reappear as voters signal strong concerns with the quality of traditional public education. The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, found that more Americans are dissatisfied than satisfied with the quality of education at their local public school.

After recent escalations, Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma will use a state financial agency to investigate Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the state’s Department of Education. State Rep. Kevin Wallace said he would ask the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) to look into Walters and the Department of Education after lawmakers signed a petition calling for a committee in the House to look at six recent issues earlier this week. Walters told a local TV station that those calling for an investigation are “liberal Republicans” who are “flat-out wrong” and are a “lackey of the teachers union.” 

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Kalamazoo Public Schools said late last month that over half of last year’s senior class from one of its high schools graduated despite not meeting the criteria to do so. The school will allow the students to keep their diplomas. Phoenix Alternative High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan, allowed at least half of the class of 2023 to graduate without meeting state or district requirements, according to a statement from KPS. 

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 health, sexual identity and religion. Federal and state laws prohibit schools from asking students for that information without approval from parents.

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For schools and institutions of higher learning waiting for the Department of Education’s final action on a rule governing eligibility for transgender students on sports teams to be finalized, more patience is required. Initially expected in October, the Department of Education’s forthcoming rule on transgender athletes on sports teams has been delayed as the agency sifts through thousands of comments from the public, according to a spokesperson. The department’s changes would overrule statewide laws prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity and replace them with criteria for schools and institutions to use on an individual basis. 

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 press conference last week, promising suspensions for students who walk out and pointing to the benefits of enforcing policies that keep cell phones away from students during the school day.

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Chicago Public Schools has spent an increasing amount of taxpayer funds on balloon displays in the last five years. The school district has put more than half a million dollars toward elaborate displays for events and celebrations in that time. The district has in recent years rapidly inflated its budget for balloon displays to mark occasions like back-to-school, graduation or Black History Month, according to CPS supplier payment data reviewed by Chalkboard. District-provided data show CPS payments for the decorations have swelled: The district spent less than $15,000 for balloon-focused vendors in fiscal year 2019, but for 2023, payments grew to over $278,000. The district has also spent over $142,400 during the current fiscal year on balloon services. 

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The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday that states involved in two lawsuits could not enforce the Biden administration’s updated Title IX rule in states continuing the multi legal battle over sex discrimination and gender identity. The high court ruled 5-4 to deny requests from the Department of Justice to stay injunctions issued by appellate courts which blocked the Department of Education’s new rule from going into effect on the Aug. 1 deadline as litigation continues around the expanded definition of sex discrimination. The arguments between the opinion and the dissent centered on whether the unchallenged aspects of the rule should be able to stand while the courts decide whether the challenged portions are legal. The majority opinion found that the challenged portions were “intertwined” with the rest of the rule.

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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.” The board voted to implement the policy unanimously, along with a number of other policies and  resolutions. The board will sunset the school resource officer program by August this year but says it will still work the city’s police department for other needs. 

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A Maryland school district says it will have to walk back its bold goals for an all-electric bus fleet after a highly critical watchdog report revealed wasteful spending and a lack of oversight with a clean-energy transportation vendor. Montgomery County Public Schools said it will likely fall short of its goals to have an emissions-free bus fleet after delays and setbacks highlighted in a recent report from the Montgomery County Inspector General. The district has asked the state board of education for millions to cover the cost of standard diesel buses and said it would need an exemption for the vehicles because of a state law prohibiting the acquisition of non-electric vehicles.

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As some students return to class this year with statewide or district-implemented cellphone bans, those who still have access to smartphones may be able to use an app powered by artificial-intelligence to complete their homework. The app, called Guath AI or Gauthmath, allows students to take pictures of their homework or tests, which it analyzes and solves. Critics have also pointed out that because it is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, user data may be accessible by that nation’s government. 

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A new report from a conservative watchdog organization claims school district diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and hiring policies determine the political leanings of the teachers who end up in the classroom. The National Opportunity Project report, released Friday, said school districts that implement the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in the hiring process weed out candidates that don’t “subscribe to certain views.” Districts mentioned in the report declined requests to comment.

A coalition of 21 state attorneys general are taking a stand in favor of Florida parents who sued their school district for allegedly violating their rights regarding their children’s gender confusion and the use of different pronouns while at school.

According to a new poll by Common Sense Media, students use artificial intelligence without their parents’ knowledge. It also found that parents are worried about what AI programs like ChatGPT mean for their children and aren’t as adept at using the software as their children. The survey asked parents of K-12 students and students between the ages of 12 and 18 about their experiences with ChatGPT and comes as more services offer artificial intelligence which can generate text for specific prompts. Large school districts have banned students from using AI, but other districts have struggled to catch up with policies.

When government officials and school leaders closed classrooms because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students switched to virtual learning. Some schools, however, have continued to utilize virtual options for students, including courseware that critics say allows students to cheat. A former Atlanta-area public school teacher wrote last month in an op-ed that course assessments from ed-tech company Edmentum could be gamed using search engines, allowing students to receive credit by cheating at home. 

Nearly two of three Detroit high school students did not complete selected online credit recovery courses the year after COVID-19. In the two following years, the district has seen higher completion rates for courses intended to help students graduate on time. Sample course completion data obtained by Chalkboard News through a public records request show that only 36% of Detroit Public School Community District students who took an online credit recovery course in the 2021-22 school year successfully completed it. The data show that students who had already failed a course were likely to fail the credit recovery course during that school year.

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A teacher who started work at a New York City charter school after she was terminated from her position at a public school has been fired after Chalkboard inquired about her previous employment.  The former teacher’s ability to start working at a charter school after a report was sent to the New York City Public Schools District from its Special Commissioner of Investigation points to what appears to be an information gap between charter and public schools in the city. Atmosphere Academy, a public charter school in the Bronx, confirmed to Chalkboard that Raylissa Rivera “no longer works” for the school after Chalkboard asked about an investigation conducted last year into inappropriate texts she sent a student.