Category Archives: US education

Trans teen loses Texas high school’s lead theater role over gender policy

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Max Hightower stripped of role over policy that students must play characters aligning with gender identity assigned to them at birth

Weeks into his senior year of high school in Texas, Max Hightower earned the lead male role for his campus’s production of Oklahoma! the musical. But the trans teen’s principal has since stripped the teen of the part, citing a new policy requiring students to only portray characters who align with the gender identity assigned to them when they were born.

Hightower and his family are now appealing the administrator’s decision to the school board while the play is put on hold pending a review.

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Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on ‘apartheid’ debate

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Consul Yuval Donio-Gideon objected to course at Bard College but president says institution ‘stood up for academic freedom’

An Israeli diplomat tried to persuade a leading New York college to cancel a course about the growing debate over whether the Jewish state practices a form of apartheid in the Palestine.

The Israeli consul for public diplomacy in New York, Yuval Donio-Gideon, took the highly unusual step of contacting Bard College earlier this year to object to the course, Apartheid in Israel-Palestine, on the grounds that it breached the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

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US schools grapple with shortage of a lunchtime staple: milk cartons

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Agricultural department says multiple states will be affected, forcing a brainstorm of backup plans

The tiny, half-pint cartons of milk served with millions of school lunches nationwide may soon be scarce in some cafeterias, with districts across the country scrambling to find alternatives.

The problem is not a shortage of milk itself, but the cardboard cartons used to package and serve it, according to dairy industry suppliers and state officials.

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Louisiana principal apologizes for punishing student’s off-campus dancing

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Public school principal reinstates 17-year-old’s leadership role and scholarship endorsement and requests leave for rest of school year

A Louisiana public school principal has apologized and requested leave for punishing a student and questioning her religious beliefs after he saw a video of her dancing at an off-campus party.

The 17-year-old student government president and scholarship candidate was videotaped dancing at an off-campus party following Walker High School’s 30 September homecoming festivities. A hired DJ took the video and posted it on social media. Three days later, Jason St Pierre, principal of the public high school near the state capital of Baton Rouge, told the student she would be removed from her position with the student government association and that he would no longer recommend her for college scholarships.

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Louisiana student punished by school for dancing at private party

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Kaylee Timonet was stripped of student government title and denied scholarship support after video surfaced of her at party

A high school senior in Louisiana was stripped of her student government president title and scholarship opportunities after a video circulating on social media showed the 17-year-old girl dancing with friends at a party last week.

Kaylee Timonet, a senior at Walker high school, was seen dancing at a private homecoming afterparty on 30 September, behind a friend who was twerking. Earlier this week, the school principal said he would revoke her leadership role and assistance in scholarship applications.

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Family of Black high school student files federal lawsuit over hair discrimination

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Darryl George, 17, of Texas has been serving an in-school suspension since 31 August for refusing to cut his dreadlocks

The family of a Black high school student in Texas who was suspended over his dreadlocks filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Saturday against the state’s governor and attorney general, alleging they failed to enforce a new law outlawing discrimination based on hairstyles.

Darryl George, 17, a junior at Barbers Hill high school in Mont Belvieu, has been serving an in-school suspension since 31 August. Officials with the Houston-area school say his dreadlocks fall below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violate the district’s dress code.

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Family of boy, 13, who died after bullying attack get $27m from school district

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Diego Stolz died after being beaten by two middle school classmates at campus in southern California in 2019

The family of a 13-year-old boy who died after being beaten by two middle school classmates at their campus in southern California has secured a $27m settlement in what the plaintiffs’ attorneys are calling the largest bullying-related settlement in the history of US litigation.

Felipe and Juana Salcedo received the settlement from the Moreno Valley unified school district over the September 2019 death of Diego Stolz.

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US scientists who used scissors to kill lab rats must be fired, activists say

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Tulane university researchers accused of ‘serious’ violations that breached international protocol over animal deaths

An animal rights group is demanding the firing of researchers at a Louisiana university who killed laboratory rats with scissors and a blunt blade – and used out-of-date anesthetics for pain relief.

The episodes are detailed in separate, self-reported notices of violation to the federal Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (Olaw), which were sent by Tulane University in New Orleans and obtained by the Stop Animal Exploitation Now advocacy group.

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Biden student-debt plan hailed as ‘big step forward’ for millions of borrowers

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Advocates say proposals that cut debt to zero for some borrowers and reduce monthly interest payments are good news

Joe Biden’s new student-loan plan is an important and large step forward on student debt forgiveness in the US even after a previous debt reduction program was controversially struck down by the supreme court, advocates say.

When the justices ruled against Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans per borrower in June, 40 million debt-burdened Americans were left with questions – especially as monthly payments would resume in October after being paused for over three years because of the Covid pandemic.

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Race-neutral admissions are next in line of fire after affirmative action ruling

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Thomas Jefferson high school in Virginia is facing a legal challenge from a libertarian group over a policy that has boosted diversity

Students hoping to attend Thomas Jefferson high school for science and technology in Virginia, one of the most competitive magnet schools in the US, once took a rigorous standardized test for admission. They also had to pay a $100 fee to apply. Those requirements posed a barrier for many students, particularly those who lacked access to test preparation resources and low-income students whose families couldn’t afford the fee.

As racial justice protests flared across the US in 2020, the Fairfax county school board decided to abandon the test and application fee in response to criticism that the school did not enroll enough Black and Latino students. The board overhauled the school’s admissions program, adopting a race-neutral approach and instituting a holistic evaluation of students’ grades, problem-solving skills, and “experience factors”, such as free and reduced lunch eligibility and whether they were an English language learner. It also implemented a practice of guaranteeing seats for the top students at every middle school in the county.

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‘My goals in life vanished’: Afghan students rocked by US visa denials

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Students trying to attend university in the US tell of their frustration after being rejected over the ‘immigrant intent’ test

Yalda Azamee blinked back tears as she stared down at the American consular officer.

“He did not even give me a chance to explain myself; he rejected me right away. He didn’t even look at my documents,” she said, rushing out of the US embassy building on to the streets of Islamabad to cry.

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Georgia school board fires teacher who read book on gender fluidity to class

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Vote on party lines punished Katie Rinderle for reading book to her fifth-grade class in violation of vaguely worded policy

A Georgia school board voted along party lines on Thursday to fire a teacher after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth-grade class.

The Cobb county school board in suburban Atlanta voted 4-3 to fire Katie Rinderle, overriding the recommendation of a panel of three retired educators. The panel found after a two-day hearing that Rinderle had violated district policies but said she should not be fired.

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Six Arkansas schools to offer African American AP course despite restrictions

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Officials have said class will not count toward graduation credit but some schools offer course as ‘local elective’

The six Arkansas schools that planned to offer an Advanced Placement (AP) course on African American studies say they will continue to do so despite state officials saying the class will not count toward a student’s graduation credit.

The North Little Rock and Jacksonville North Pulaski school districts and eStem charter schools said on Thursday they would offer the course as a “local elective” despite the Arkansas education department saying it is not considered a state-approved course. They join two other school districts that have said they will continue offering the class.

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AP Psychology can be taught ‘in its entirety’, says Florida official

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State had told superintendents the course violated a new law prohibiting content on sexual orientation and gender identity

Even though Florida’s government had told school superintendents that the Advanced Placement Psychology course offered to high school students violated the state’s new law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, it appears students may be able to take the course after all.

In a letter to state superintendents Friday, Florida’s education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr said the state believed the psychology course could be taught “in its entirety”.

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Black US journalism professor wins $1m over botched university appointment

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Kathleen McElroy, whose history of promoting diversity caused pushback, receives damages and apology from Texas A&M

A Black journalism professor who was hired by Texas A&M University before objections in some quarters over her history of promoting diversity foiled the job offer has secured a $1m settlement from the institution.

Kathleen McElroy also received an apology from officials at Texas A&M, the largest public school in the US, who in a statement Thursday acknowledged “mistakes … made during the process”.

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Florida tells schools AP Psychology course with LGBTQ+ content violates law

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Ron DeSantis’s government has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively also banning the class

Florida has told school superintendents that the Advanced Placement psychology course offered to high school students violates the state’s new law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively banning the class, the non-profit that develops the courses said on Thursday.

The move is the latest by the administration of Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor, to limit instruction about LGBTQ+ issues and race in the state. DeSantis is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and has made battles over cultural issues a centerpiece of his campaign.

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Biden administration trials website for new student loan repayment scheme

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Beta – or testing – site for ‘Save’ plan should take only 10 minutes to use and aims to cut undergraduate payments in half

The Joe Biden White House is launching a beta – or testing – website as part of its new income-driven student loan repayment plan, according to reports.

The site, which CNN first reported on Sunday, comes as part of the president’s Saving on a Valuable Education (Save) plan, which was announced earlier this year after the supreme court struck down an earlier iteration of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

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Texas professor suspended hours after criticizing lieutenant general in lecture

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Joy Alonzo accused by student of disparaging Dan Patrick in lecture on opioid crisis at Texas A&M University

The Texas A&M University professor Joy Alonzo criticized the Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, during a visiting lecture in March 2023 on the opioid crisis at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Just hours later, Alonzo learned a student accused her of disparaging Patrick during the lecture. The complaint reached her supervisors and the chancellor of Texas A&M, John Sharp, who was in communication directly with the lieutenant governor’s office.

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Kamala Harris condemns Florida over curriculum claim of slavery ‘benefit’

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Vice-president decries ‘extremist so-called leaders’ and says new teaching standards will rob children of knowing true US history

Kamala Harris went to Florida on Friday to address the state board of education’s controversial new standards for Black history, which include the contention that some Black people benefited from being enslaved.

In an impassioned afternoon speech, the vice-president predicted the standards would rob children of knowing true US history that the rest of the world has been taught.

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California school district fined $1.5m after rejecting curriculum with Harvey Milk

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Gavin Newsom, the state governor, said his office will provide new school textbooks and send a bill for violating state laws

A school district in southern California will be fined more than $1m after rejecting a curriculum that included Harvey Milk, the pioneering gay rights leader who the the school board’s president has called a “pedophile”.

Gavin Newsom, the California governor, announced on Wednesday that his office will send textbooks to the Temecula school district that include Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the state, as well as fine the district $1.5m for failing to “adopt an updated social studies curriculum”.

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