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Tag: Education policy

Two investigations signal Education Department’s pivot from Pride Month to Title IX enforcement
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Approved, Daily Wire, National, State

Two investigations signal Education Department’s pivot from Pride Month to Title IX enforcement

By Mary Margaret Olohan | Daily Wire The news bears a stark contrast to the June celebrations of President Joe Biden's Education Department. WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s Education Department has declared June “Title IX Month” in recognition of the 53rd anniversary of the historic legislation’s passage, The Daily Wire has learned. The department will spend June highlighting the Trump administration’s actions taken to protect female sports and spaces, as well as reversing the weaponization of Title IX that took place during the previous administration. The festivities offer a stark contrast to the Biden Education Department’s “Pride Month” celebrations, which focused on gender ideology, critical race theory, and DEI. The Daily Wire can also first report that the Education ...
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Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump
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Approved, Education Week, National

Schaffer’s ‘unsafe school choice’ policy gets new life under Trump

By Evie Blad | Education Week When the Trump administration urged states to use a little-known provision in federal education law to boost school choice, the congressman who helped author the language 24 years ago had an immediate reaction. “It’s about time,” said former Congressman Bob Schaffer. In a May 7 letter, Acting Assistant Education Secretary Hayley B. Sanon urged states to ease their criteria for labeling schools as “persistently dangerous"—a designation that legally comes with an obligation to offer families an option to transfer to another public school. “The number of persistently dangerous schools reported nationwide appears low particularly given the number of violent offenses in schools reported” in federal data, she wrote. It’s a message that Schaffer, ...
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Polis backs federal halt after his own AI law faces fierce blowback
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Polis backs federal halt after his own AI law faces fierce blowback

By Bente Birkeland | Colorado Sun Business and industry groups have been begging for a delay. They say the law as it stands is unworkable — they’re urging Colorado’s lawmakers to give all sides more time to try to find a compromise. Nine months: that’s all the time left before companies have to start complying with Colorado’s first-in-the-nation anti-discrimination law for AI systems, unless policymakers act. Business and industry groups have been begging for a delay. They say the law as it stands is unworkable — they’re urging Colorado’s lawmakers to give all sides more time to try to find a compromise. But consumer rights advocates say AI’s rapid spread into more and more areas of life makes it critical to put guardrails on how the technology is working. Many advocates for th...
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Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools

By Robert Sencenbaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you are on the left or the right, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the average classroom does not look like one tends to believe. Both are far more subtle. Thus, any debate on these issues devolves into both sides yelling at one another with neither actually listening. During a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) declared, “We can stop with the nonsense because K-12 was not teaching critical race theory…in our country K-12 is not learning critical race theory. Just for those who are unfamiliar.”  Having taught in both Texas and Colorado, I can tell you that she is not being completely honest. While she is correct ...
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Money matters: Colorado lawmakers pass bill adding financial literacy to graduation requirements
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Approved, Post Independent, State

Money matters: Colorado lawmakers pass bill adding financial literacy to graduation requirements

By Andrea Teres-Martinez | Post Independent Colorado just became the 27th state to turn financial literacy courses into a graduation requirement after the bill passed the Senate with a vast majority vote on Wednesday.  The bipartisan bill’s third reading passed with 55 yes votes and 10 no — a noticeable uptick in support from when the bill was first introduced. House Bill 25-1192 requires that all Colorado high school students complete a personal finance literacy course at some point in their four years in order to graduate. High school graduation requirements and curriculum are traditionally set by local school districts, while academic standards are set by the state. However, the bill gives districts control over when and how the course is implemented so long as the...
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School board in El Paso County moves to restrict transgender athletes, citing safety and fairness
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

School board in El Paso County moves to restrict transgender athletes, citing safety and fairness

By Ann Schimke | Colorado Sun At an April school board meeting near Colorado Springs, debate raged over a proposed policy to ban transgender students from playing on school sports teams that match their gender identity. A high school student named Sadie, who spoke against the policy, asked why her district would need a blanket policy when a tiny percentage of student athletes are transgender. A 60-year-old man who supported the policy and described himself as stronger than any woman in the building claimed a transgender girl could slam a ball into a girl’s head hard enough to put her in the hospital. A father opposed to the policy said his son, a district student, has an extra X chromosome and suggested gender is more complicated than it seems. He said of the proposed policy...
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Board members say the bill risks punishing parents, stripping local authority, and forcing schools into the middle of contentious custody battles More than 70 school board members and education leaders have signed a letter urging lawmakers to reject HB25-1312, also known as the Kelly Loving Act. Jason Jorgenson, secretary of the District 11 Board of Education and a lead organizer of the opposition letter, said HB25-1312 “risks encouraging youth to pursue a path of gender transition without appropriate parental involvement.” Andrea Haitz, president of the District 51 Board of Education, warned that the bill “risks placing schools in an even more precarious legal position, especially when parents disagree on matters like gender identity or p...
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