Education in Focus

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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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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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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A North Carolina school board passed a policy this week aligning itself with the Biden administration's expansion of Title IX which has faced numerous lawsuits and legal setbacks, including an injunction prohibiting its implementation in hundreds of K-12 schools, colleges and universities. The Wake County School Board voted Tuesday to adopt a policy echoing the Department of Education’s expanded definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity during a board meeting where various arguments for and against the policy were vocalized. Before the board’s decision, a federal judge out of Kansas ordered that the Education Department cannot implement its rule ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline in hundreds of specific schools nationwide, including progressive states like California and New York, according to court filings.

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The Government Accountability Office, which acts as a watchdog for federal agencies, said in a recent report that male students of color with disabilities were more likely to be arrested than the average student. The GAO also reported that police in schools nearly doubled the number of arrests and that arrests were more frequent when police were involved in discipline. Critics of police in schools say it creates a school-to-prison pipeline, while advocates for school resource officers cite the need to protect students and staff.

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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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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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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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 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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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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