Education news and discussion

weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

Speaker McCarthy says student loan payment pause 'gone' under debt ceiling deal. Here’s what that means. (USA Today)
The debt ceiling deal finalized between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday would reinstate student loan payments and the accrual of interest in late August.

"The pause is gone within 60 days of this being signed," McCarthy told Fox News anchor Shannon Bream. ...

https://news.yahoo.com/speaker-mccarthy ... 10549.html
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

Oklahoma Approves First Religious Charter School in the U.S.
The nation’s first religious charter school was approved in Oklahoma on Monday, handing a victory to Christian conservatives, but opening the door to a constitutional battle over whether taxpayer dollars can directly fund religious schools.

The online school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, would be run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, with religious teachings embedded in the curriculum, including in math and reading. Yet as a charter school — a type of public school that is independently managed — it would be funded by taxpayer dollars.

After a nearly three-hour meeting, and despite concerns raised by its legal counsel, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the school in a 3-to-2 vote, including a “yes” vote from a new member who was appointed on Friday.

The relatively obscure board is made up of appointees by Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who supports religious charter schools, and leaders of the Republican-controlled State Legislature.




https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/us/o ... he-us.html
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by caltrek »

Climate Deniers Are Hounding Educators Again
by Anya Kamenetz
June 10, 2023

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) Carolyn McGrath thought she was ready for her testimony in front of the New Jersey Department of Education. An art teacher, she had dressed in a jaunty polka-dot blouse and chunky green necklace, and had a written statement prepared in favor of teaching climate change in every school subject.

She hadn’t expected any controversy. But by the time it was her turn to walk to the podium last month, she was so nervous she visibly shook. “It was such an uncomfortable situation,” she said later. “I don’t like confrontation.”

McGrath is passionate about teaching climate change; she’s given her students assignments like creating portraits of climate activists. So she was delighted this past fall, when the state of New Jersey joined the global vanguard in climate education. New Jersey is the first state in America to adopt standards for learning about climate change in each grade, from K through 12, and across several different subjects, even physical education.

Initially these additions didn’t draw much political heat, possibly because sex education standards were being updated at the same time. But this year, the standards in the core subjects of math and English language arts came up for revision. Proposed draft revisions also include climate change. This is important, advocates say, because these are the core subjects that students are tested on, and for which schools and districts are held accountable.

And this time was different. At the May 3 public hearing, in front of two members of the State Board of Education, supporters of the changes, including McGrath, were blindsided and well outnumbered by organized right-wing activists who testified against teaching climate change.

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... re-wars/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

DeSantis sues Biden administration over university accrediting system
Source: AP
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Education over accreditation agencies, which control federal aid for students.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court, challenges a federal law that requires colleges and universities to submit to private accreditors to qualify for federal funding. It targets the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Miguel Cardona and other federal officials.

The lawsuit comes as DeSantis, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, imposes his conservative agenda on the state’s education system. Earlier this year, he appointed trustees to the board of New College of Florida, a tiny Sarasota school of about 1,000 students that was best known for its progressive thought and creative course offerings. The new board intends to turn the school into a classical liberal arts school modeled after conservative favorite Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Speaking about the accreditation lawsuit on Thursday, DeSantis said he refuses “to bow to unaccountable accreditors who think they should run Florida’s public universities.”


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/desantis-law ... 282e969162
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

Wesleyan University Ends Legacy Admissions
Source: New York Times

Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut, is ending legacy admissions, which give a leg up to the children of alumni, just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.

After the Supreme Court decision, legacy admissions came under heavy attack because the practice tends to favor white, wealthy applicants over Black, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American students.

President Joe Biden; Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York; and Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, have all spoken out against the practice.

Polls also show that the public does not support legacy admissions. A Pew Research Center survey last year found that 75 percent of those surveyed believed legacy status should not be a factor in college admissions.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/us/w ... ?smtyp=cur
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Education news and discussion

Post by weatheriscool »

ACT test scores for US students drop to new 30-year low
By Cheyanne Mumphrey
Updated 4:39 AM CDT, October 11, 2023
High school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test.

Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the class of 2023 whose scores were reported Wednesday were in their first year of high school when the virus reached the U.S.

“The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career,” said Janet Godwin, chief executive officer for the nonprofit ACT.

The average ACT composite score for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8.

...
https://www.act.org/content/act/en/rese ... -2023.html
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/uns ... Report.pdf
Post Reply