DA Staff

Florida superintendent who defied DeSantis on masks fired by school board

Alachua County School Board voted 3-2 to terminate the contract of Carlee Simon. A key vote for termination was that of board member Mildred Russell, who was appointed in August by the Republican governor.

NYC schools received a windfall in relief dollars. Some are struggling to spend it.

There are varied reasons why some of this funding remains unused. Tutoring and enrichment programs, for instance, require finding staff to work extra hours in a moment when educators feel overworked.

Push to restrict teaching about racism and religion fails in Indiana

Bill would have limited what Indiana teachers could say in the class dies after facing stiff opposition from educators, civil rights advocates and others who warned of an exodus of teachers should it become law.

Illinois schools wouldn’t have to serve cheapest food possible under new proposal

Lawmakers want to change the way Illinois school districts solicit food service contracts, allowing officials to negotiate for higher quality products amid complaints that many schools offer unhealthy food.

Confidence in California public schools declines sharply

Confidence in California public schools has declined as voters and parents overwhelmingly have concluded that the quality of education worsened during the pandemic, a new poll has found.

Judge: New admissions policies at elite Virginia school discriminate

A federal judge ruled that a Virginia school system illegally discriminated against Asian Americans when it overhauled the admissions policies at an elite public school.

School is back in person, but the five-day school week often isn’t

Last month, at the height of the Omicron wave, one-quarter of U.S. schoolchildren missed more than a week of in-person learning. The majority of students were home at least three days.

California voters strongly support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schools

Statewide, the poll showed that a significant number of Latino and Black parents — populations that have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic — did not feel their children were safe from COVID-19 at schools.

Lawsuit aims to block Nevada school voucher petition drive

The lawsuit aims to block the state's top elections official from putting measures on the ballot that seek to let parents use state money to pay for private school tuition.

Colleyville teacher resigns after saying conservative Christians need ‘to get COVID and die’

A spokesperson for the district identified the teacher Thursday afternoon as Lisa Grimes, who taught eighth-grade discoveries and English language arts.

Florida high school students demonstrate against ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill

Demonstrations were held Wednesday at three St. Johns County schools, protesting a bill that would forbid discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Georgia district will begin treating positive COVID cases same as flu, chickenpox

Parents and guardians will only receive a close contact letter if schools determine "that the virus is being transmitted from person to person in a classroom, grade level or building."

Chicago poised to end controversial school ratings system

New approach likely will no longer involve a number or letter grade for each campus–a practice that educators and others say reduce a school’s offerings and complex challenges to a single designation.

College scholarships will be awarded to all students at 5 Chicago high schools

Hope Chicago is providing all 1,671 students at Juarez High School with a full scholarship to one of 20 Illinois colleges or training programs. One of their parents also will get the opportunity to go to college or a vocational training program for free.

‘Paper terrorism’: Parents against mask mandates bombard schools with sham legal claims

The strategy is simple: Try to use obscure and often inapplicable legal claims to force a school district to make a policy change. And while the claims have no legal standing, they have been effective at spreading confusion and wasting resources.