1. Education Reform’s Lost Decade
LISTEN: I sat down with Steven Wilson for a candid conversation about his new book, The Lost Decade, and the current state of education reform. We discussed what’s changed in schools over the past decade, the tension between pushing for academic excellence and navigating a fast-changing cultural and political landscape, and why it’s more important than ever to have honest, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversations about the future of education.
Listen to the episode here, and check out Steven’s new book, The Lost Decade, here.
2. Judge Blocks Ed Cuts
READ: A federal judge halted President Trump’s attempt to effectively dismantle the Education Department, ordering thousands of fired staff to be reinstated and calling the layoffs illegal and harmful. The judge rejected the administration’s justification of “efficiency,” citing the vital student services and civil rights enforcement that were severely disrupted. But fired staff remain wary about returning to a department they say is now hostile to its own mission:
“Quite frankly, I don’t think this administration is taking the job that the Education Department is supposed to be doing very seriously,” [Keith McNamara, a laid-off Education Department data governance specialist] said. “I’m not sure I’d want to work for an agency that — from the very top — is hostile to the work that the department does.”
Read more from Mark Keierleber at The 74 here.
3. Court Halts One, but Will Congress Fund Many?
READ: A deadlocked Supreme Court blocked the launch of the nation’s first religious charter school on Thursday, but will it turn out to be more than a small hurdle for conservative policymakers who want to expand government funding for religious education? Sarah Mervosh and Dana Goldstein reported on the Court’s ruling and the House’s approval of a $5 billion federal voucher bill that could be used for private religious education:
A federal voucher program could be a boon to Catholic schools in particular, which make up the largest share of private school enrollment, at 35 percent.
“We’ve been supporting it all along,” said Sister Dale McDonald, vice president of public policy for the National Catholic Educational Association, which represents Catholic school educators.
The federal bill was in many ways “more significant” than the Oklahoma case would have been, she said, because if it passes, families across the nation will be able to use it to help pay for tuition at existing schools.
Read more in The New York Times here.
4. Spiritual Care on Campus
READ: Despite declining religious affiliation among young adults, college chaplains are more relevant than ever. Cornelia Powers at The New Yorker took a closer look at the role of the modern-day college chaplain, which has expanded to support students as they navigate mental, emotional, and existential challenges. Today’s chaplaincy is more diverse and interdisciplinary, involving everything from counseling and community building to crisis support and mental health referrals, and even nonreligious students are seeking out on-campus chaplains:
Their guidance might help undergrads as they sort through any number of uncertainties, whether about God, school, friendships, romance, family, or their undecided futures. “Students need someone who will hear them, who will sit with them, who will be present with them, and who won’t be on their phones in front of them,” Nathan Albert, ACSLHE’s board president and the chaplain at the University of Lynchburg, told me.
Read more here.
5. Judge Denies Visa Revocation
READ: A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from barring Harvard from enrolling international students. Harvard, which enrolls 7,000 international students who typically pay full-fee tuition, says the revocation is illegal and politically motivated:
“There is no lawful justification for the government’s unprecedented revocation of Harvard’s SEVP certification, and the government has not offered any,” Harvard argued.
A White House spokesperson objected to the judge’s blocking the government’s revocation: “These unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”
Read more from Douglas Belkin at The Wall Street Journal here.
6. Free Exercise Battle Reaches SCOTUS
READ: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case where religious parents sued a Maryland school board after it revoked a policy allowing opt-outs from LGBTQ-themed elementary school materials. The board’s refusal sparked backlash, especially after some members accused parents of promoting hate and compared them to white supremacists, suggesting anti-religious bias. Critics argue the materials are sexually inappropriate for young children, and justices have signaled skepticism toward the school board’s stance. If the court rules for the parents, it could further expand religious protections and fuel debates over where to draw the line in public education policy:
Oral argument in April did not go well for the district. In the lower courts, the school board had argued that if parents object to the curriculum they can send their children to private school. Maryland, however, does not provide financial support for parents seeking a private-school education that aligns with their religious beliefs. Justice Samuel Alito noted that schooling is compulsory; the parents who object to their children being exposed to parts of the curriculum must pay taxes to support public schooling, and most can’t afford to send their children to private school. After asking the school board’s attorney what he would say to the objections of religious parents, Alito said, “Your answer is: ‘It’s just too bad.’” He also pointed out that “the state cannot say . . . that you’re going to be disqualified from benefits because of your religious beliefs,” hinting that the board’s policy might be an instance of such disqualification. Other justices seized on the religious animus that seemed to motivate the board and the fact that the board allowed opt-outs for things like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. Those other opt-outs, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted, made the school district’s claim that it was not discriminating on the basis of religion difficult to believe.
Read more from Joshua Dunn at Education Next here.
7. Disability Rights Denied
READ: A Chalkbeat investigation has found that New York City public schools frequently violates federal laws intended to protect students with disabilities from unjust suspensions. Reporter Alex Zimmerman spoke with the families of students like Tristan and Malachi, both young Black boys with ADHD who were issued lengthy suspensions without proper evaluation and a collaborative review process, to understand the impact of the suspensions, which disproportionately affect Black students:
For Clayton, Tristan’s mother, the [suspension review] process was so overwhelming that she pulled him out of the city’s school system.
Even though Tristan won hundreds of hours of one-on-one tutoring, Clayton struggled to coax him to attend. The teen’s experience at school had reached a breaking point, and Tristan wound up getting suspended again, she said.
That was the final straw. “I was like, ‘I’m going to spend half the time at a suspension hearing,’” Clayton said.
So last September, Tristan moved in with his aunt upstate. His mother said he’s doing better in school, landed a job at a local bakery, and plans to go to trade school for plumbing.
The guidance counselor from Tristan’s old school recently called to ask after the teen.
Clayton was thrilled to offer an update.
“He’s really thriving,” she said. “I’m in disbelief.”
Read more from Alex Zimmerman at Chalkbeat here.
Imbroglio will take a short break in June and return on July 5.