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May 13, 2024 • Entries for our sixth annual contest for middle and high school students (and our first-ever fourth grade competition) are now due Friday, May 31 at midnight E.T.

May 13, 2024 • Student Podcast Challenge invites students from around the country to create a podcast and compete for a chance to have your work featured on NPR.

Graduate students and demonstrators at the University of Texas at Austin protest the war in Gaza after walking out of commencement at the DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on May 11, 2024 in Austin. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption

Campus protests over the Gaza war

Student protests caused mostly minor disruptions at several graduation ceremonies.

May 12, 2024 • From California to North Carolina, students staged chants and walkouts over the weekend in protest of Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza.

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Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning.

May 11, 2024 • Researchers are learning that handwriting engages the brain in ways typing can't match, raising questions about the costs of ditching this age-old practice, especially for kids.

Students and protesters raise peace signs in the air while listening to speakers at the encampment for Palestine on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at the University of Washington Quad in Seattle. Large crowds amassed ahead of a speech by Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at the HUB on UW's campus. Megan Farmer/KUOW hide caption

The Picture Show

Photos: campus protests continue, police make arrests and clear encampments.

May 10, 2024 • Photojournalists at NPR member stations documented protests at college and university campuses nationwide this week.

Student protesters demanding university divestment from Israel have set up encampments over the past month at dozens of campuses across the nation, including at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. Steven Senne/AP hide caption

From pandemic to protests, the Class of 2024 has been through a lot

May 10, 2024 • Pomp and circumstance again fall victim to circumstance for some students in the graduating class of 2024, as protests over the war in Gaza threaten to disrupt commencement ceremonies.

Mountain View High School will soon be known by its former name: Stonewall Jackson High School. The Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 to once again honor the Confederate general, whose name was originally attached to the school during the battle over racial segregation. Google Maps/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

A Virginia county board votes to restore Confederates' names to schools

May 10, 2024 • The school board meeting stretched into early Friday. During the debate, a Black student athlete told the board, "I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves."

David Banks, chancellor of New York City Public Schools, testified at a House Education Committee hearing on antisemitism on Wednesday. He was joined by Karla Silvestre, president of the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland, Emerson Sykes, staff attorney with the ACLU, and Enikia Ford Morthel, superintendent of the Berkeley Unified School District in California. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption

Republicans and K-12 school leaders clash over handling of antisemitism

May 8, 2024 • Republicans tried for the kind of headline moments they've scored in similar hearings with elite college presidents. But the testimony from K-12 public school leaders offered few surprises.

Police face off with pro-Palestinian students after dismantling part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, early on May 2. Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

In NYC and LA, police response to campus protests draws sharp criticism

May 8, 2024 • Students say they suffered broken bones, concussions and other injuries from allegedly aggressive police action breaking up pro-Palestinian protests last week.

Ammer Qaddumi was arrested at a Pro-Palestinian protest at UT-Austin on April 24, 2024. Michael Minasi/KUT hide caption

Some student protesters aren't deterred by the prospect of punishment

May 7, 2024 • Some students face criminal charges, suspensions and even expulsions for participating in pro-Palestinian protests and encampments. Their reason? A "just cause."

Alissa Pili #35 and Jenna Johnson #22 of the Utah Utes react after a basket against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in Spokane, Wash. on March 25, 2024. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) Steph Chambers/Getty Images hide caption

Man admits racial harassment of Utah women's NCAA basketball team

May 7, 2024 • Prosecutors in northern Idaho say they won't bring charges against a man who admitted to using a racial slur against University of Utah women's basketball players.

Squares mark a lawn where tents once stood at Brown University in Providence, R.I. It's one of several schools where administrators have struck deals with student protesters. David Goldman/AP hide caption

What we can learn from 4 schools that have reached agreements with Gaza protesters

May 7, 2024 • Northwestern, Brown, Rutgers and University of Minnesota are among the handful of schools that have reached agreements with student protesters. Here's how they did it, and what could come next.

Graduates chant in support of Palestinians during the University of Michigan's commencement ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Katy Kildee/Detroit News via AP hide caption

How student protests are changing college graduations

May 7, 2024 • Four years after COVID disrupted high school graduations, many college seniors are looking forward to their first real commencement. Student protests are forcing some to adjust their expectations.

Protesters seen in tents on Columbia University's campus on April 24. The school later suspended protesters who didn't leave, and called New York City police to arrest those who occupied a building on campus. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption

Columbia and Emory universities change commencement plans after weeks of turmoil

May 6, 2024 • Columbia cancels its main ceremony, while Emory's events will now take place in the suburbs outside its Atlanta campus. The moves come after weeks of protests against the war in Gaza.

The University of Mississippi's school banner is waved during the pregame activities prior to the start of an NCAA college football game in October 2021. The university's leader denounced actions at a protest last week. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption

U of Mississippi opens probe over hostile protest that involved racist taunts

May 5, 2024 • Videos of Thursday's incident at the school were shared on social media showing heated confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and a larger group of counterprotesters.

Pedro Noguera at TED@NewYork talent search. Ryan Lash/Flickr hide caption

In the 1980s, he led student protests. Now, he's a college dean

May 5, 2024 • Pedro Noguera led anti-apartheid protests as a student at UC Berkeley. Forty years later, he offers his thoughts on the ongoing protests at the University of Southern California over the war in Gaza.

Ohio National Guard members move toward students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, on May 4, 1970. They fired into the crowd, killing four students and injuring nine. AP hide caption

She survived the 1970 Kent State shooting. Here's her message to student activists

May 4, 2024 • On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students, killing four and wounding nine. A former student who now teaches there reflects on that day and offers lessons for protesters now.

Law enforcement form a circle around the encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors on April 29, at the University of Texas at Austin. Michael Minasi/KUT News hide caption

Photos: Campus protests continue nationwide as some turned violent

May 4, 2024 • Photojournalists at NPR member stations documented protests at college and university campuses nationwide this week.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., spoke with students as a surrogate for the Biden-Harris reelection campaign at college campuses across Wisconsin, a state that had the highest youth turnout in the country in the 2022 midterms. Jeongyoon Han/NPR hide caption

Six months out from the election, Wisconsin students weigh voting for Biden

May 4, 2024 • Wisconsin's young voters — who have turned out in big numbers in recent elections — are key for either candidate to win the state. But Biden is facing some skepticism on the state's college campuses.

Students and pro-Palestinian activists face police as they gather outside of Columbia University to protest the university's stance on Israel's war in Gaza. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

NYC mayor says 'outside agitators' are co-opting Columbia protests—students disagree

May 2, 2024 • In an NPR interview, NYC Mayor Eric Adams said he had a 'gut reaction' that outside agitators were leading Columbia anti-war protests. Students beg to differ.

Vargas Arango, 22, is a second-year student at Miami Dade College, studying business and psychology. Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR hide caption

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Student loan borrowers and advocates gather for the People's Rally To Cancel Student Debt During The Supreme Court Hearings On Student Debt Relief on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for People's Rally hide caption

Biden forgives more than $6 billion in loans for 317,000 Art Institutes students

May 1, 2024 • President Biden announced the relief for attendees of the now-shuttered art schools, saying they "falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt."

Counterprotesters try to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the University of California, Los Angeles campus in the early hours of Wednesday. Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Violence erupts at UCLA as protests over Israel's war in Gaza escalate across the U.S.

May 1, 2024 • Members of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups in Los Angeles clashed, with reports of fireworks and pepper spray use. Elsewhere, universities are tearing down encampments and arresting students.

Columbia University faculty and staff gather on the campus in solidarity with student protesters on Monday. Stefan Jeremiah/AP hide caption

How some faculty members are defending student protesters, in actions and in words

May 1, 2024 • The protests sweeping college campuses don't just involve students. Professors are increasingly pushing back against university administrations they see as infringing on students' free speech rights.

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Articles on US Department of Education

Displaying 1 - 20 of 27 articles.

What families need to know about how to safely store firearms at home

Kerri Raissian , University of Connecticut and Jennifer Necci Dineen , University of Connecticut

FAFSA website meltdown: How to avoid additional frustration with financial aid applications

Dawn Medley , Drexel University

Superintendent turnover is increasing and gender gaps are barely budging, but accurately assessing the consequences remains a challenge

Rachel S. White , University of Tennessee

What are the limits of presidential power to forgive student loans? A constitutional law expert answers 5 questions

Derek W. Black , University of South Carolina

Why student absences aren’t the real problem in America’s ‘attendance crisis’

Jaymes Pyne , Stanford University ; Elizabeth Vaade , University of Wisconsin-Madison , and Eric Grodsky , University of Wisconsin-Madison

How US Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona can stop the teacher shortage

Bob Spires , University of Richmond ; Diane B Hirshberg , University of Alaska Anchorage ; Doris A. Santoro , Bowdoin College , and Richard L. Schwab , University of Connecticut

George H.W. Bush laid the foundation for education reform

Jack Schneider , UMass Lowell

Betsy DeVos has little to show after 2 years in office

Dustin Hornbeck , Miami University

Why Trump’s proposal to merge the departments of Labor and Education should fail

Nicholas Tampio , Fordham University

Active shooter drills may reshape how a generation of students views school

Devon Magliozzi , Stanford University

DeVos and the limits of the education reform movement

Jack Schneider , College of the Holy Cross

NSW could lead the way in educating students with a disability

David Roy , University of Newcastle

DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads

Mark Hlavacik , University of North Texas

Why students need better protection from loan fraud

Richard Fossey , University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Betsy DeVos’ 6-month report card: More undoing than doing

What Trump’s education budget could mean for students in poverty

Komla Dzigbede , Binghamton University, State University of New York and Laura Bronstein , Binghamton University, State University of New York

Trump budget would abandon public education for private choice

Is charter school fraud the next Enron?

Preston Green III , University of Connecticut

Federal role in education has a long history

Who is Betsy DeVos?

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• Charter schools
• Education reform
• No Child Left Behind
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• School vouchers
• Student loan debt
• US education

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Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Memphis

Professor of Law, University of South Carolina

Professor of Education, Furman University

Assistant Professor of Education, UMass Lowell

Doctoral Student Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Arizona State University

Dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs Professor, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Professor of Education, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Professor of Political Science, Fordham University

John and Maria Neag Professor of Urban Education, University of Connecticut

Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New York

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Key student-debt relief programs are at risk if Congress doesn't boost Education Department funding, 25 Democratic lawmakers say

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren led a group of Democrats in pushing for increased Federal Student Aid funding.
• They said that key student-debt relief programs, like SAVE, are at risk without more resources.
• Congress has failed to boost funding for the agency over the past couple of years.

A group of Democratic lawmakers is pointing to one key thing that will help student-loan borrowers and families navigate financial aid: more funding .

On Wednesday, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren led 24 of her Democratic colleagues in calling on Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Shelley Moore Capito — chair and ranking member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee for education funding, respectively — to grant President Joe Biden's $2.7 billion budget request for the Office of Federal Student Aid in fiscal year 2025.

Over the past couple of years, Biden has requested that Congress provide increased funding to FSA to help it facilitate the return to student-loan repayment , the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid , or FAFSA, form, and a host of new repayment and debt relief programs.

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However, Republicans have opted to flat-fund the agency, and this year, they proposed funding cuts . The Democrats wrote in their letter, first viewed by Business Insider, that the lack of funding is "severely undermining FSA's ability to implement critical programs."

"FSA's responsibilities have increased to protect students and borrowers, but its federal funding has remained stagnant," they wrote. "The lack of adequate resources creates more barriers for students to start and continue their education."

Since federal student-loan payments resumed in October, many borrowers have faced a list of challenges , including hours-long hold times with their servicer, payment inaccuracies, and delayed or missing billing statements.

On top of that, the Education Department has been working to carry out a series of reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, it implemented the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan , and it's in the process of overhauling the student-loan servicing system .

Each of those efforts requires more resources to implement effectively — something servicers themselves have previously acknowledged when explaining their own challenges in assisting borrowers.

When it comes to the FAFSA, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been highly critical of the way the Education Department has facilitated the rollout. While the department intended to create a simplified form for families and students, technical glitches delayed the form by months, and aid calculation errors followed, forcing many schools to push back their commitment deadlines.

Just one day before the Democrats' letter, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting that the department ensure the FAFSA form is ready, without errors, for students to access as they apply for aid for the next school year. The Democrats wrote in their Wednesday letter that FSA needs more funding to live up to that commitment.

Cardona also expressed the need for Congress to boost the Education Department's funding in written testimony for a Tuesday hearing before the House. He wrote that Biden's $2.7 billion request for FSA will allow the agency to "support students and student loan borrowers as they navigate these modernized financial aid application and student loan repayment processes."

The Education Department is also in the process of crafting its broader student-debt relief plan , which is currently in the public comment period . The department plans to begin implementation of the new debt relief this fall, but the presidential election — and likely legal challenges — present uncertainty to that timeline.

Watch: Why student loans aren't canceled, and what Biden's going to do about it

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Feds find Carroll ISD violated students’ civil rights, families’ attorneys say

The U.S. Department of Education is seeking to negotiate with Carroll ISD over civil rights complaints, lawyers for the families announced this week.

Thursday’s announcement follows a years-long investigation into alleged racism and harassment in the district going back to 2021 .

One of the complainant’s attorneys, Allison Scharfstein with the Legal Defense Fund, said the Office for Civil Rights only initiates negotiations after validating complaints.

“Under OCR’s process, Carroll now has 90 days to negotiate a resolution agreement that will remedy its civil rights violations and ensure they don’t re-occur,” Scharfstein told KERA.

In an open letter to Carroll ISD, members of the two groups that filed the initial complaints urge the district to "enter into good-faith negotiations with OCR and agree to remedies to address and prevent discrimination and harassment within the District.”

KERA reached out to Carroll for a response but hasn’t yet heard back.

UNC-Chapel Hill board slashes diversity funding to divert money to public safety resources

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As USC cancels commencement, Columbia students worry theirs could be disrupted

Columbia protest at a stalemate as students remain camped on lawn, after a drag queen show during prom, an albuquerque high school principal is removed.

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USC cancels guest speakers, honorees at main commencement after valedictorian decision

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Ron desantis signs bill restricting challenges to books in public schools.

• The Education Gradebook

Florida’s new education laws carry less impact than in past years

• Jeffrey S. Solochek Times staff

With little of the attention he’s given to other legislation this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday quietly signed two bills touted for removing “onerous” bureaucracy and red tape from public education.

The measures (SB 7002 and 7004) ended some reporting requirements for school districts but didn’t go as far as some advocates had hoped. Provisions to scale back high-stakes testing, for example, were stripped from the bills before they landed on the governor’s desk.

Still, the intent of the proposals — to ease state regulations on schools — filtered through to the other education-related initiatives that also made their way through the session.

“I would say overall the spirit of deregulation … really shaped the tone and tenor of K-12 education policy — what passed and didn’t pass this legislative session,” lobbyist Megan Fay of Capital City Consulting told the Pinellas County School Board recently.

Compared to the previous five legislative sessions, she said, “the number of bills we’ve had that impact K-12 education, I’d say this is probably an all-time low, and the number of new mandates is certainly, I’d say other than school safety … is almost at zero.”

DeSantis on Tuesday signed the school safety bill ( HB 1473 ), aimed at increasing protections from intruders, among other things. The measure gained attention for its requirement that all school doors, gates and entries must be locked whenever they are not staffed.

That provision riled many school leaders, who raised concerns about the logistics of making it happen, especially when outside organizations use campuses for nonschool activities. Lawmakers added language exempting those times when buildings are used by others.

Another bill adding a new mandate (SB 1264) requires schools to teach the history of communism . DeSantis signed that legislation with great fanfare in April.

Outside of those two items, the session’s impact on school districts was “very light,” said Danielle Thomas, the lead lobbyist for the Florida School Boards Association.

As an example, she noted that a bill allowing religious chaplains to provide counseling in public schools is voluntary. School boards “can choose not to do anything about that,” Thomas said, adding that, so far, only Miami-Dade County school officials have indicated they would act on it.

Other new bills, however, are having some impact on schools.

One measure the governor signed in April (HB 1285) is winning praise from school officials for limitations it placed on school book challenges by nonparents, Thomas said.

A measure on teacher training (HB 1291), which DeSantis approved a week ago, forbids preparation programs from including “identity politics” in their lessons. Another bill ( HB 1361 ) that DeSantis signed Thursday provides grants and assistance to schools as they seek appropriate uses of artificial intelligence.

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That law has the potential to transform public education in Florida, said Citrus County School Board chairperson Thomas Kennedy, the immediate past president of the Florida School Boards Association. It also provides more opportunities for prekindergarten students to get scholarships for early literacy and math programs.

School choice got another boost as DeSantis signed legislation Thursday (HB 1403) expanding eligibility for state vouchers and education savings accounts. The new law also set revised deadlines for getting voucher money to families and schools after complaints about delayed payments in the fall .

The bill originally contained restrictions on how families can use the money, but lawmakers removed those after homeschool families balked.

DeSantis also signed legislation (SB 7032) Thursday creating a new program for high school dropouts to earn a diploma and workforce credentials .

The key education-related legislation that still awaits the governor’s action is the budget. District officials have said they are holding off on many spending decisions for the coming year while vetoes remain a possibility.

Meanwhile, several are looking ahead to the next session, with hopes that the deregulation mentality holds.

“We’re being told it’s not a one and done,” said Thomas, the school boards lobbyist. She expressed hope that the provisions to scale back testing will return in 2025.

Jeffrey S. Solochek is an education reporter covering K-12 education policy and schools. Reach him at [email protected].

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Katy isd ‘anti-transgender’ policy under federal investigation.

Michael Horton , Digital Content Producer , Houston, TX

Corley Peel , Reporter

HOUSTON – The United States Department of Education has launched an investigation into Katy Independent School District after receiving a Title IX complaint regarding a policy passed by the district in August that civil rights advocates deemed as anti-transgender.

The complaint was filed by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), a student-led movement that aims to include youth influence in educational policy.

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The Katy ISD policy in question has seven sections on several elements of the transgender movement in schools, including limiting bathroom access to align with sex assigned at birth and prohibiting staff members from asking students for their preferred pronouns.

The policy also limits athletic participation to students’ biological sex and prohibits schools from teaching gender fluidity.

A full transcript of the SEAT complaint can be read here.

In response to the complaint, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation.

“The Department of Education opening an investigation marks a significant step forward in holding Katy ISD accountable for its actions and ensuring that transgender students are equally protected under federal civil rights laws,” SEAT organizers said in their media release.

According to a spokesperson for the department, the investigation is related to Title IX laws that prohibit sex-based discrimination in schools. OCR said they are not releasing further details about the investigation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has spoken in opposition of the federal changes made to Title IX laws surrounding LGBTQ+ students in U.S. schools.

Katy ISD responded to KPRC 2, saying the district denies any wrongdoing.

KPRC 2 reporter Corley Peel spoke with a parent about the matter.

“I would agree [with the policy], because I would like to know what’s going on with my child at school and what my child would like to be called at school to see if it differs from home,” one Katy ISD parent who asked to not be identified said. “There’s always an investigation going on somewhere. Not everybody agrees, and not everyone has the same opinions.”

Students also have opinions on the investigation.

Jarred Burton is a Katy ISD student and a member of SEAT. He said the group filed the complaint back in November with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

“Personally, I think it’s very exciting. It shows that the tides are kind of turning,” Burton said.

Burton hopes the policy will be appealed, because students and teachers have been on edge.

“A lot of teachers, even if they don’t necessarily agree with the student’s identity, they don’t want to be putting the child at risk of whatever their family may react to them coming out or being outed,” said Burton.

After the investigation was announced, Katy ISD released this statement:

“The district is committed to offering equal educational opportunities to our entire community. While we have received the OCR filing and deny any wrongdoing, we are committed to remaining fully cooperative and responsive throughout the process.”

Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.

About the Authors

Michael horton.

Michael is a Kingwood native who loves shooting hoops, visiting local breweries and overreacting to Houston sports. He joined the KPRC family in the spring of 2024. He earned his B.A. from Texas A&M University in 2022 and his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023.

Corley Peel

Corley Peel is a Texas native and Texas Tech graduate who covered big stories in Joplin, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jacksonville, Florida before returning to the Lone Star State. When not reporting, Corley enjoys hot yoga, Tech Football, and finding the best tacos in town.

UNC-Chapel Hill BOT votes to divert DEI funding, redirecting it to campus public safety

The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees has voted to divert $2.3 million away from diversity, equity and inclusion programs and into “public safety.”

The unanimous vote occurred at a special Board of Trustees meeting Monday morning. It is unclear if the diversion of funds would lead to layoffs.

Marty Kotis is vice chair of the board’s budget and finance committee, which initially introduced and passed the “flex cut amendment.” Without citing specific examples, he called DEI programs “discriminatory and divisive.”

“I think that DEI in a lot of people’s minds is divisiveness, exclusion and indoctrination,” Kotis said. “We need more unity and togetherness, more dialogue, more diversity of thought.”

According to the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Diversity and Inclusion, their mission is to “create and sustain a diverse, inclusive and welcoming environment for all students, faculty and alumni.”

Kotis and other board members said it was important to have additional funding for public safety to protect the campus from groups that “disrupt the university’s operations.”

Many members specifically mentioned recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus . Last month, police detained more than 30 people at an encampment where protesters removed the U.S. flag and replaced it with a Palestinian one .

“When you destroy property or you take down the U.S flag and you have to put up gates around it — that costs money,” Kotis said. “It’s imperative that we have the proper resources for law enforcement to protect the campus.”

Several people, including Chapel Hill and Carrboro town council members, have condemned the university’s police response to campus demonstrations.

“UNC administration created an environment that inevitably resulted in an escalation of force, including the use of pepper spray against its own students,” reads a letter signed by a majority of town council members. “This use of aggressive police tactics against students and community members invites aggressive responses, and only serves to escalate an already tense situation.”

Neither Chapel Hill nor Carrboro police were involved in the on-campus protests.

“It is a shame that the town of Chapel Hill refuses to aid our local university police when called upon,” David Boliek, chair of the budget and finance committee said. “The $2.3 million would be an added help to what is probably a budget issue with respect to how much we’re having to spend on law enforcement right now.”

The board’s decision to approve a “flex cut amendment” in a special meeting just before the chancellor submits an overall budget to the Board of Governors is highly unusual. Chancellor Lee Roberts attended Monday's special meeting but did not say anything about the diversion of funds.

“While we may be an advisory board, we do have the power of the purse,” Kotis said. “And if we don’t want to approve programs that aren’t in compliance with our (non-discrimination) resolution, then we don’t have to.”

This decision follows a committee vote from the UNC Board of Governors last month to revoke a policy that mandates DEI offices at all public universities in the state. Next week, the full Board of Governors will vote on that same policy change.

If approved, the policy change will be effective immediately and individual university chancellors will have until September of this year to detail how they plan to make cuts to DEI initiatives.

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New York City’s watchdog agency launches probe after complaints about the NYPD’s social media use

FILE - Members of the New York City Police Department listen to a news conference, Jan. 4, 2017, in New York. New York City’s watchdog agency has launched an investigation into allegations that the city’s police department improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens. The city Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday, May 8, 2024, saying it was prompted by recent requests from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society asking it to look into the NYPD’s social media policies and practices. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City’s watchdog agency has launched an investigation into allegations that the city’s police department improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens.

The city Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a statement Wednesday, saying it was prompted by recent requests from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society asking it to look into the NYPD’s social media policies and practices.

Adams, a Democrat, in her Friday letter cited reports from The Associated Press and others highlighting how the department and some of its top officials have in recent months adopted a more aggressive online presence, using their accounts on the X platform to take on critics.

In one post featured in the reports, Chief of Patrol John Chell said a Democratic city councilmember who had criticized the NYPD for arresting pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University “hates our city.” In another post, from February, Chell misidentified a judge in a criminal case, falsely accusing her of letting a “predator” loose on the city’s streets.

“The recent deployment of official NYPD social media accounts to aggressively target public officials and civilians in our city, use dog whistles that can lead to threats and violence, and convey inaccurate information, is dangerous, unethical and unprofessional,” Adams said in a statement Friday.

The NYPD did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.

The Legal Aid Society in its letter on Monday backed Adams’ request, and also accused the police department of using social media “unprofessionally and unethically” to discredit pro-Palestinian protesters at local colleges.

The legal aid group pointed to X posts from Chell and NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry after the department cleared campus encampments last week.

One post the organization cited noted “a book on TERRORISM” was found at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall , saying it was among items — also including ear plugs, helmets, goggles, knives and ropes — that were “not the tools of students protesting” but rather of “people working on something nefarious.” The title was, in fact, a nonfiction book on the subject published by Oxford University Press.

After receiving the two requests, “DOI has begun an investigation of the relevant social media use and exchanges, as well as applicable City policies,” spokesperson Diane Struzzi said in a statement.

The Legal Aid Society had also asked for a probe into the general police response to the protests at universities, but the Department of Investigation declined to comment on that request.

In February, the NYPD’s top spokesperson defended the department’s social media tactics.

“We want to go on social media and push back on the misinformation that’s out there,” Tarik Sheppard told the AP at the time. “Because if we don’t, it could cause damage to the reputation of our cops and the work that we’re doing.”

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What's the best state for you », new data shows that just as many students are behind grade level as last year.

The new federal data bolsters concerns over the severity of academic declines and the ongoing challenges to rebounding in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Data: Kids Aren’t Catching Up

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Public school leaders estimated that about half, or 49%, of their students began the 2022-23 year behind grade level in at least one academic subject compared to 50% last year.

New federal data collected on the academic setbacks incurred by public school students since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic shows that virtually as many students began the current school year behind in at least one grade subject as did last year – the latest research to bolster concerns over the severity of academic declines and the ongoing challenges to rebounding.

“Many students were behind grade level at the start of the current academic year, including in core academic subjects like English and mathematics,” says Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, the data arm of the Education Department. “Both this school year and last school year, public school leaders estimated that about half of their students began the school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject. These data suggest that academic recovery will take time.”

Public school leaders estimated that about half, or 49%, of their students began the 2022-23 year behind grade level in at least one academic subject compared to 50% last year, according to data released Thursday by the center in its School Pulse Panel , which provides ongoing information about the impact of COVID-19 on schools, students and staff. Prior to the pandemic, roughly 36% of students began the school year behind grade level.

The data represents the latest snapshot of the challenges faced by U.S. public schools collected by federal researchers from more than 1,000 K-12 schools during the month of December.

The good news is that nearly all public schools are employing a combination of learning-recovery strategies to help students get back on track. Moreover, 58% of public schools have provided professional development for teachers and staff on learning recovery, and 37% have hired additional staff to provide more small-group and individual instruction.

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However, the quality, consistency and rigor of the strategies adopted varies greatly, with more than 8 in 10 public schools relying at least in part on remedial instruction – an oft-criticized remedy that uses content from prior years to catch up students – and just 37% of schools offering the so-called “high-dosage tutoring” that researchers have been touting as the gold standard and that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has been urging schools to adopt .

“Set a goal of giving every child that fell behind during the pandemic at least 30 minutes per day, three times a week, with a well-trained tutor,” Cardona said last week in a major speech that outlined the Biden administration’s education priorities for the year ahead.

“Safely reopening schools is just the baseline. It’s not good enough,” he said. “We must make up for lost time.”

More than 80% of schools reported offering tutoring as a way to catch up students, and among those schools, 59% reported offering standard tutoring, 37% reported offering high-dosage tutoring and 22% reported offering self-paced tutoring – where students work on their own, typically online. Notably 17% of schools reported not offering tutoring at all.

High-dosage tutoring is defined as tutoring that’s provided “for at least 30 minutes per session, one-on-one or in small group instruction, offered three or more times per week, is provided by educators or well-trained tutors and aligns with an evidence-based core curriculum.”

When it comes to high-dosage tutoring, the teachers and aides administering that tutoring are significantly more likely to have received specialized training and professional development in effective tutoring methods and are significantly more likely to be specialists in the subject content, compared to standard tutoring.

But just because schools offer tutoring doesn’t mean that they require students to participate in it or that students are taking advantage of it. Indeed, National Center for Education Statistics researchers estimate that less than half of public school students are receiving tutoring and that just 10% of students are receiving high-dosage tutoring.

Rachel Hansen, a statistician with the center who compiled the new data, warned that those percentages could be even lower due to the myriad ways schools consider what they provide as high-dosage when it may not meet their specified definition.

“Overall it seems that we have a long road ahead of us in trying to get kids back to grade level and try to reduce that number [of students who are a grade level behind] from 50% and get it back down to 36%,” she says.

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Tags: education , K-12 education

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