Education in Focus

(The Center Square) – School choice debates continue as more states opt into programs aimed at expanding educational options for families. National School Choice Week, scheduled for Jan. 25-31, is designed to raise awareness about school choice around the country through events with schools and organizations. 

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(The Center Square) – Republicans are pushing back against California programs that provide taxpayer-funded tuition assistance to illegal immigrants, arguing the policies divert resources from the state's taxpayers. The California Dream Act Application allows illegal immigrants and students from mixed-status families to access state-funded financial aid for higher education. The program applies to students attending public universities. There are currently around 9,500 California State University illegal immigrant students and about 4,000 University of California illegal immigrant students.

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(The Center Square) – The Arizona State Board of Education on Monday approved removing diversity, equity and inclusion teaching standards to comply with a federal executive order and avoid the potential loss of $866 million in federal education funding. During the meeting, board members heard testimony from parents, educators and members of the public who raised concerns about removing the standards. Yet the board approved to start the process of reviewing statewide teaching standards related to DEI.

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(The Center Square) - Since the Trump administration’s moves to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, it has prompted a wide range of reactions from state education leaders nationwide. The department announced this past week that six offices within the Department of Education will be transferred to four partner agencies: Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior and State.

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(The Center Square) - University of California, San Diego has renamed one of its scholarship programs following a legal settlement with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which sought to ensure equal treatment and educational opportunity for all students regardless of race.

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Chris Lindner knows the possibility of his Loyal School District consolidating with Greenwood in Clark County has plenty of people paying attention. School consolidations in Wisconsin, now a rarity, could increase if his is successful. The measures are aimed at helping school districts use consolidation to combat decreased enrollments and aging buildings across the state. Public school enrollment in Wisconsin is expected to decline by 200,000 students by 2050. The state has seen an estimated 10,000 fewer students each year.

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(The Center Square) – Colorado is experiencing a significant shortage of out-of-school programs, according to a new report. The survey found that, while parents of 463,000 children in Colorado want them in an after-school program, 75% of those children are not. While still significant, that is 2% lower than the national average. This should be a priority for lawmakers, according to Kelly Streck, director of the Colorado Afterschool Partnership.

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(The Center Square) - The University of California system has rolled out a new harassment prevention mandate requiring all students to complete training that affirms transgender policies — or face class registration blocks. UC’s SHAPE program - Sexual Harassment, Anti-Discrimination, Prevention and Education - requires students to complete mandatory training on gender identity and nondiscrimination policies. The program is designed to uphold the commitment by UC for a safe and inclusive environment for transgender students and states that those who do not use the correct transgender pronouns may create a hostile environment and are accused of harassment.

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(The Center Square) - A vast majority of Americans do not believe the federal government should have control over education policy, according to a new poll. The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll found that only 11% of American voters think the federal government should set standards for curriculum, testing and school choice. Instead, 33% of American voters said local school districts should set curriculum, testing and school choice standards. About 23% of voters said parents should set educational standards. 

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(The Center Square) – The leaders of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Education are demanding answers from the state’s Department of Public Instruction following a report showing that 200 investigations into teachers for sexual assault and grooming were shielded from the public. Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said that she plans to draft three bills in response to the report to create a grooming law, standards for communication between students and faculty and to end a "loophole" where educators can surrender their teaching license rather than facing further investigation. Senate Committee on Education Chair John Jagler and Vice Chair Romaine Quinn asked a series of 12 questions of DPI Superintendent Jill Underly and demanded to get a response within 24 hours on if she will be willing to testify before the committee.

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