A Florida state lawmaker has filed a bill that would ban public schools of higher education with an acceptance rate of less than 85% from admitting students in the country without legal authorization.
A growing number of states are considering legislation to ban or restrict cellphones in schools, part of an effort to remove classroom distractions for students as concerns rise about their mental health.
Will the U.S. Department of Education be dismantled? Or does Trump's proposal ring hollow? Tune into this story as we provide updates in the months leading up to his first day in office.
A wave of new laws and mandates in states, particularly in the South, is stirring debate and testing the bounds of what may be legally permissible. Officials, educators and parents in those states are now being confronted by what, if any, amount of religious-infused lessons they want children to have access to.
The bill aims to end the Department of Education, and redistribute federal programs to other existing departments. But the biggest change would be allocating K12 education money directly to the states via block grants.
The curriculum—designed by the state’s public education agency—would allow teachings from the Bible such as the Golden Rule and lessons from books such as Genesis into classrooms. Under the plan, it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum though they would receive additional funding if they did so.
Texas public schools could use teachings from the Bible in lessons as an option for students from kindergarten through fifth grade under a proposal that drew hours of testimony and follows Republican-led efforts in other states to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.
The Oklahoma attorney general's office responded after the state's education superintendent sent an email this week to public school administrators requiring them to show students his video announcement of a new Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism. In the video, he prays for President-elect Trump.
Former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey is sounding the alarm about a new Illinois Education Association survey that finds almost three out of every five state educators concede they have envisioned themselves walking away from the classroom.
