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Most clicked story of the week:
The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that it is transferring management of six programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration continues pushing toward the agency’s closure. The move, the administration said, will give states more control over education funding decisions.
Among the program shifts are the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the U.S. Department of Labor, and international education and foreign language studies programs to the U.S. Department of State.
Number of the week:
58%
The percentage of schools in the U.S. that offer algebra by the 8th grade, according to a study released Tuesday by assessment and research organization NWEA. Beyond that slim majority, access to 8th grade algebra is much lower in rural areas, high-poverty schools and schools with more than 75% Black or Latino students, the study said. High-achieving Black students in particular are “systematically less likely” than other high-achievers to be placed in 8th grade algebra when it is offered.
Ed Dept split raises concerns
- Reaction to the Education Department’s announcement that it is shifting the management of a handful of programs to other federal agencies ranged from celebration to condemnation. As many stakeholders praised or criticized the management shift, several others said they want more details about logistics and exactly what would change.
- On Thursday morning, a coalition of more than 850 local, state and national organizations released a joint commitment to support federal special education law and to protest any move that separates services for students with disabilities from the Education Department. Coalition members, who also include individual advocates, support keeping the department as an independent agency that is fully staffed and funded to oversee federal laws including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504.
Religion in schools is once again in front of the courts
- The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 17 refused to hear a case on whether a Christian school should be allowed to broadcast a pregame prayer over a football stadium’s loudspeaker before a state championship game. The decision comes on the heels of several other First Amendment decisions by the high court in recent years related to school prayer and speech.
- A federal judge on Nov. 18 ordered about a dozen Texas school districts to remove any displays of the Ten Commandments in classrooms by Dec. 1. The preliminary injunction temporarily prohibits these districts from carrying out a state law that requires the schools to display the religious text while related cases are pending in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Another religious school — this time Jewish — has applied to operate a virtual public charter school in Oklahoma next year, reviving the debate of whether religious schools can be considered public just months after a similar effort by a Catholic school was blocked by a deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court.