Page 144 - Educational Progress News Today

Teacher unions are now using strikes as a form of extortion. For the second time this year, a state’s teachers union and its members have closed schools and are refusing to work until lawmakers stop considering proposals to give students with special needs more learning opportunities.

Mason Consolidated Schools will have a nonhomestead millage renewal on the ballot for a special vote on May 2.

School closures and culture wars turned classrooms into battlegrounds — and made the head of one of the country’s largest teachers’ unions a lightning rod for criticism.

After controversy erupted over Palestinian American activist and lawyer Huiwada Arrafs speech at a Michigan high school, community groups are calling for open and respectful dialogue. Arraf said she was invited to speak at a Bloomfield Hills High School on March 14, along with other speakers, about her experiences dealing with racism. She said the goal of the assembly was to promote diversity and raise awareness of the dangers of racism and discrimination. ...

Earlier in the pandemic, Wisconsin Republicans brought legal challenges to shutdowns meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Three years into the crisis, decisions regarding school closures around the United States are being revisited in Congress. Republicans used a hearing this week to question American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. ...

Libraries across the country have been in the news lately, mostly for efforts to ban books. But this has been National Library Week, and theyre focused on a lot of other, more positive priorities as well. In Georgia, that means supporting student literacy as summer approaches. ...

The Indiana House and Senate approved legislation Thursday designed to ban school library material some might deem "obscene" or objectionable. State law already allows parents and community members to ask school boards to review books with content considered to be "harmful to minors." Nonetheless, Republicans who control both chambers of the Indiana Statehouse inserted the language -- at the last-minute and behind closed doors -- with no opportunity for amend...

GOP lawmakers are re-evaluating policies about how and why schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics of the effort say its a back-handed attempt to weaken teachers unions. This week in the U.S. ...

Hundreds of advocates for higher education will gather in Springfield today, where they will lobby in support of what they call a transformative reinvestment in public colleges and universities. Students, staff and faculty are urging lawmakers to pass the Cherish Act, which would create a system of debt-free higher education for every resident of the Commonwealth and ensure better pay for faculty and staff. Max Page, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said the bill would also...

Over the past decade, the District of Columbia has made strides inoffering families greater choice about which schools their childrenattend, thanks to a strong charter school law and the federallyfunded D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. District leaders andMembers of Congress should implement policies to give all Districtfamilies the opportunity to choose good schools for their children.