EDUCATION
Va. Republicans try to restrict minors’ access to two books after judge’s obscenity finding
A Republican lawyer who serves in the Virginia House of Delegates is pursing restraining orders that would make two books unavailable to minors after a retired judge acting on behalf of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court found the books could be considered obscene due to explicit sexual content. In an interview Thursday, Del. Tim Anderson, […]
Youngkin says report on ‘honesty gap’ points to decline in Virginia schools
Pandemic learning loss and subpar standards have led to a significant decline in outcomes for Virginia’s K-12 students, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his education appointees argued Thursday as they presented a new data analysis of school performance. Pointing to what the 34-page Virginia Department of Education report described as an “honesty gap” between what state […]
Virginia LG joins amicus brief urging end to race-conscious college admissions
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the first woman of color elected to statewide office in Virginia, has signed onto an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to restrict the use of racial preferences in college admissions by siding with the Asian-American plaintiffs in a pending affirmative action case. Earle-Sears signed the anti-affirmative action brief along […]
Liberty needs to overhaul its approach on sexual assault
Blaming the victims of sexual assault, rather than vigorously investigating men who are rape suspects. Dissuading women from filing criminal reports. Threatening academic and monetary sanctions against women for trumped-up violations of the moral code of conduct. With such accusations being leveled repeatedly against officials at Liberty University – the private institution in Lynchburg known […]
Youngkin and Miyares’ appeal of mask ruling is a harsh publicity stunt
Who will benefit from the appeal of a federal court ruling – sought by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares and other administration officials – that would challenge whether 12 students with serious health problems can legally ask classmates and teachers to continue to wear masks? Certainly not the overwhelmingly majority of public school […]
When are book bans unconstitutional? A First Amendment scholar explains.
By Erica Goldberg, University of Dayton The United States has become a nation divided over important issues in K-12 education, including which books students should be able to read in public school. Efforts to ban books from school curricula, remove books from libraries and keep lists of books that some find inappropriate for students are […]
LGBTQ community, people of color in the crosshairs of banned book movement
In some Tennessee classrooms, a nonfiction comic book about the atrocities of the Holocaust is banned. And one school district in Wisconsin banned from libraries a picture book about a gay rights activist who was assassinated. In the last nine months, hundreds of books across dozens of states are being banned. A majority of the […]
When a student newspaper calls for banning campus speech, basic freedoms are threatened
The last place where the free expression of ideas and robust debate about them should be inhibited is a college campus. And the last institution that should call for such a thing, particularly at a university founded by one of the nation’s earliest champions of unfettered speech, is a newspaper. But that’s what happened at […]
Former DeVos aide appointed Virginia’s deputy secretary of education
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has appointed McKenzie Snow — a former Trump official and aide to one-time U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — as Virginia’s deputy secretary of education, the administration confirmed. Snow began the role on Monday and will join state Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera on the governor’s Cabinet, overseeing instruction in Virginia […]
Hampton electoral board chair resigns, Youngkin rescinds plastics order and more Va. headlines
Hampton Electoral Board chair David Dietrich resigned on Saturday, two days after it was revealed he had posted racist comments on Facebook about Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore following the Jan. 6 riots in Washington D.C. Gov. Glenn Youngkin had taken to Twitter on […]
Upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases could curb colleges’ use of affirmative action
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices could fundamentally reshape the college admissions process later this year when it takes up two landmark cases challenging affirmative action in higher education. The court recently agreed to hear two cases that challenge race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University the nation’s oldest private university and the University of […]
Northern Virginia Regional Commission pushes for HBCU satellite campus
A group representing Northern Virginia municipalities wants to bring a historically Black university to the region through a satellite campus. Representatives from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission – which includes 13 local governments such as Alexandria, Fairfax and Prince William – have met with administrators at Norfolk State University and Virginia State University who demonstrated […]