Education in Focus

(The Center Square) – U.S. House Democrats and Republicans shared opposing viewpoints Wednesday on ways to address the rising costs of college tuition in the U.S. In a House subcommittee hearing, Republican and Democrat members questioned a panel of witnesses on antitrust policies of Ivy League institutions. U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., called attention to a lawsuit filed by a group of former students in 2022 accusing the nation’s top universities of favoring wealthy student applicants over others. Fitzgerald said the schools use personal financial data to determine how much a family can afford to pay and charge them that amount.

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(The Center Square) – The Texas House on Sunday passed a Parental Bill of Rights that includes a ban on social transitioning of children. In the House, the bill was carried by state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, The Center Square reported. It passed the House by a vote of 88-47 with three voting present, not voting, according to the unofficial tally. The bill affirms that parents are the primary decision-makers in their child’s education, bans Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology in K-12 public schools, restricts teachings of sexual orientation and gender identity, simplifies public school transfers, and reforms the parental-ISD complaint process, among other measures.

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/texas/article_2fe9f06f-0138-44aa-aa2e-3dfe17b8ee53.html

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(The Center Square) – States with universal school choice policies see more growth in educational options for families, according to a new report. EdChoice, a nonprofit organization that researches school choice policies, said roughly 30,000 private schools serve 4.4 million students across the country. Seventy-six subsidization programs exist in 35 states, with 18 offering support to all students without distinction. Of those, just four have the funds to serve every child. 

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/pennsylvania/article_880f9cc3-524f-4c3f-a075-874550e8d407.html 

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(The Center Square) - A California federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring parental notification and opt-outs for gender identity topics in an elementary school’s buddy program pairing older elementary students with younger mentees, citing concerns from the program’s controversial lesson in which fifth graders were enlisted to teach kindergarteners about gender identity. At issue is a specific buddy session, in which teachers selected and read the gender identity book “My Shadow Is Pink,” which the ruling says is “about a boy who liked to wear dresses and play with toys associated with girls.” The session took place at an elementary school in the Encinitas Union School District.

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(The Center Square) – About 30 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested late Monday night after occupying a University of Washington building and lighting dumpster fires. In a social media post, the “Super UW” group – Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return – stated that it occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building to demand the university cut ties with Boeing, a major employer of UW engineering graduates. The protesters’ anger concerns a $10 million donation made by Boeing toward the construction of the $90 million learning facility in 2022. 

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(The Center Square) – Legislation targeting harassment of Jewish students at higher education institutions will likely reach the U.S. House floor by May, intensifying the broader crackdown on antisemitism by the Trump administration. The Republican-led Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will vote on the Protecting Students on Campus Act and the Antisemitism Awareness Act on April 30. As reported by The Center Square, the Protecting Students on Campus Act would require universities to communicate to students how to file civil rights complaints and mandate universities to report the number of civil rights complaints they receive, as well as actions taken to address those complaints.

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(The Center Square) – After seeing billions of dollars in research funding frozen and facing multiple federal demands for internal reform, Harvard University is suing the Trump administration under the claim that it has violated the school’s First Amendment rights. On April 14, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was freezing $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded federal grants to the school, as The Center Square reported. The decision followed Harvard’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s demands that it more effectively curb unlawful student activity and reform any programs “with egregious records of antisemitism or other bias.” 

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(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Education late Monday said it is freezing more than $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University after its president said earlier in the day it would not comply with President Donald Trump's demands over antisemitism on campus and diversity, equity and inclusion policies. "Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws," the department's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement, citing the "harassment of Jewish students" that "has plagued campuses in recent years..."

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(The Center Square) – As cellphone bans in schools are gaining steam in dozens of states, one lawmaker is taking it to the federal level by proposing legislation leading to cellphone-free schools. Freshman Virginia Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman has introduced the UNPLUGGED Act, which the lawmaker describes as the “first step in restoring quality education” by removing cellphones from classrooms. The movement to ban the technology from classrooms has gained bipartisan popularity by several state lawmakers. State leaders on opposite sides of the political, ideological spectrums appear to have found common ground, saying phones in the classroom are distractions and contribute to mental health issues. 

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(The Center Square) – Bills that would ban men from women's sports and establish new programs for school safety are now on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's desk as lawmakers wind down the 2025 session. House and Senate leaders merged Senate Bill 1 into the Riley Gaines Act proposed by the House. The legislation would allow the state to withhold funding from schools that fail to follow the provisions outlined in the bill after an investigation. Teams could also be prevented from competing if violations of the law are confirmed. The revised bill removes a provision that would have added definitions for male and female throughout the Georgia code. It defines "male" and "female" in relation to school sports.

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