U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, delivering the keynote address at the American Federation for Children summit on Monday, declared education is ultimately a matter best left to the states. Fox News reports:
The Trump administration, however, is not against encouraging states to adopt school choice programs. The administration’s proposed education budget, released yesterday, allocates hundreds of millions of dollars for school choice.
SOURCE: Fox News
IN THIS ISSUE:
- MICHIGAN: Republican lawmakers and Catholic parents want to repeal Michigan’s ban on state money funding private schools.
- CHARTER SCHOOLS: A new study shows special-needs students in Denver and New York are more likely to remain enrolled in charter schools.
- NEVADA: Nevada lawmakers are battling the clock in deciding if and how to fund the state’s education savings account program.
- TEXAS: The Texas Senate OKs ESAs for special-needs students, but the bill faces a fight in the House.
Common Core and Curriculum Watch
- IOWA: Iowa has ended its contract with a vendor that provides testing software after wasting $14 million on the faulty system.
- KENTUCKY: The presence of a nearby charter school prompts a traditional public school in Kentucky to change its curriculum.
- K-12 PROGRAMS: The Trump administration’s proposed budget eliminates 20 pre-K-12 programs, which Shane Vander Hart highlights here.
- WEST VIRGINIA: A West Virginia lawmaker thinks homeschoolers should be forced to follow the Common Core State Standards.
- MAINE: A school in Maine is considering offering “athletic hijabs” for its Muslim athletes.
- YEARBOOKS: Yearbooks in schools across the country are infused with politics this year, The New York Times reports.
- CHICAGO: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposes adding $389 million in debt to keep the city’s schools open and pay teacher pensions.
- BATHROOM BILL: Texas may become the second state to implement a “bathroom bill” to keep students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their “gender identity.”
Teresa Mull
Teresa Mull is a policy advisor for education and an editor at The Heartland Institute.
