Department of Education

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Judges in 2 States Halt Chunk of Biden Loan Forgiveness Plan

Kansas, Missouri earn temporary victory that puts the kibosh on key parts of student loan program

(Newser) - Federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday together blocked much of a Biden administration student loan repayment plan that provides a faster path to cancellation and lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers. The judges' rulings prevent the US Department of Education from helping many of the intended borrowers...

Department of Education Is Investigating Harvard

Following claims of Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment

(Newser) - Following a civil rights complaint filed by Arab and Muslim students against Harvard, the Department of Education has launched an investigation into the university. The students say that because they are Palestinian, Muslim, or supporters of Palestinian rights, they've been subjected to "rampant harassment and racist attacks including...

Florida Says AP Psychology Course Is Illegal

Education Department demands removal of gender and sexuality topics, taught for 3 decades

(Newser) - After blocking the Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, Florida has now "effectively banned" AP Psychology, too, according to the College Board, which oversees the AP program. It says the Florida Department of Education instructed superintendents on Thursday "that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender...

DOE Looking Into How Harvard Admits Students

Harvard's legacy, donor admissions in the spotlight after SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action

(Newser) - A landmark ruling last month by the US Supreme Court struck a blow against using affirmative action in college admissions, and soon after that decision, murmurs began intensifying on an adjacent controversy—legacy and donor admissions. Now, one of the Ivy Leagues is under the microscope over the practice: The...

8th-Graders' History Scores Are a 'National Concern'

US history, civics scores hit record low in national assessment

(Newser) - Far too many American students are failing to learn the basics about their country's history and how their government operates, according to the assessment known as the "Nation's Report Card." The average history score among eighth-graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) dropped five...

GAO: So About That $114B Due In From Student Loans...

Watchdog report: Education Dept. is instead set to lose about $197B, partly due to COVID relief

(Newser) - The Department of Education had been banking on getting its hands on $114 billion or so in income due from federal student loans issued over the past quarter-century. Instead, a watchdog has delivered some bad news: It's actually set to lose $197 billion, in part due to the suspension...

Students Misled by Universities Will Have Loans Canceled

Biden administration grants relief to those who claimed fraud by for-profit schools

(Newser) - The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it will cancel more than $70 million in student debt for borrowers who say they were defrauded by the for-profit DeVry University— the first time the Education Department has approved such claims for an institution that’s still in operation. At least 1,800...

Gay, Transgender Students Now Have Title IX Protections

Education Department reverses Trump-era policy

(Newser) - It's not clear how much of a bulwark it will be against legislation around the country to limit their rights, but the US Education Department has released guidance decreeing that Title IX prohibits discrimination against gay and transgender students. The guidance cites a Supreme Court ruling a year ago...

America's Student Debt Total Getting $500M Lighter

Loan relief granted to former ITT Tech students

(Newser) - The Education Department said Wednesday it's erasing student debt for thousands of borrowers who attended a for-profit college chain that made exaggerated claims about its graduates' success in finding jobs and students' ability to transfer credits elsewhere. The Biden administration said it's approving 18,000 loan forgiveness claims...

2nd Trump Cabinet Member Resigns
2nd Trump Cabinet
Member Resigns
UPDATED
Jan 7, 2021 8:13 PM CST

2nd Trump Cabinet Member Resigns

Education's Betsy DeVos is stepping down

(Newser) - First Elaine Chao , now Betsy DeVos. Education secretary DeVos became the second member of President Trump's Cabinet to resign over Wednesday's riots in Washington, reports CNBC . DeVos on Thursday night blamed the president in her resignation letter to the president, per the AP . “There is no mistaking...

Education Pick Is Former Public-School Teacher

Connecticut's Miguel Cardona will get the Cabinet position

(Newser) - President-elect Biden has chosen Miguel Cardona, the education commissioner for Connecticut and a former public-school teacher, to serve as education secretary, per the AP . Cardona was appointed to the top education post in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March. When schools moved to remote learning,...

DeVos Has One Word for Education Department Staff

Politico says it has the recording

(Newser) - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos reportedly has one word for the thousands of career employees who will remain with the department during the transition to a Joe Biden administration: "Resist." DeVos gave the directive during a department-wide virtual meeting on Tuesday, Politico reports, citing an unpublished audio recording. "...

Advocates Vow to Fight New Campus Sexual Assault Rules

DeVos overhaul gives alleged perpetrators more rights

(Newser) - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has released the department's overhaul of how schools and colleges should handle sexual misconduct complaints—and while some controversial proposals have been watered down, victims' rights groups are still vowing to fight the new rules. Under the new guidelines, which replace some Obama-era policies that...

Judge Holds DeVos in Contempt Over Student Loans

Court finds Education Department disregarded order to stop collecting on loans of 16K

(Newser) - Education Secretary Betsy Devos was held in contempt of court and handed a $100,000 fine Thursday for violating a federal judge's order to stop collecting on certain student loans. The move came after the Education Department was told in May 2018 to stop collecting on the loans of...

Protecting Betsy DeVos Cost $6.24M This Year

Cost will rise to almost $8M next year, according to US Marshals Service

(Newser) - Providing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos with round-the-clock protection cost $6.24 million in fiscal 2019 and is projected to cost $7.87 million in the new fiscal year that started Tuesday, according to the US Marshals Service. Politico describes the security as "highly unusual," noting that the Education...

Black Government Worker's Office 'Targeted' in Attack

Betsy DeVos has called for an investigation

(Newser) - A black employee's office at the US Department of Education has been vandalized in what looks like a racially motivated attack, NBC News reports. The employee hasn't been identified, but her school desegregation poster was damaged and African figurines disfigured. "She had some dolls in her office...

DeVos Grilled on Plan to Yank Special Olympics Funds

Education secretary says 'we had to make some difficult decisions' for the next budget

(Newser) - By her own words, Betsy DeVos thinks the Special Olympics is "an awesome organization"—just not one that should be funded by the federal government. The secretary of education appeared before a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday to try to explain nearly $7 billion in suggested cuts to education...

DOE Uses 'Contested' Definition of Anti-Semitism to Revisit Case

Department taking new look at 2011 discrimination claims against Jewish students at Rutgers

(Newser) - In a move the New York Times says supports a "hotly contested definition of anti-Semitism," the Department of Education has announced it's vacating a 2014 ruling by the Obama administration and reopening a case against Rutgers University brought by a conservative Zionist group. The case, per Haaretz ...

Obama Official Says Keep Kids Home to Fight Guns

Arne Duncan was US Secretary of Education under President Obama

(Newser) - An official from the Obama administration has suggested parents nationwide force Congress to act on gun control by keeping their kids home from school. Arne Duncan, a former US Secretary of Education, made the statement in a tweet on Friday after 10 people were gunned down in an east Texas...

Dept. of Ed Official: I'm Sorry for 'Flippant' Remarks on Rape

Civil rights chief said 90% of accusations 'fall into the category of 'we were both drunk''

(Newser) - The Education Department's civil rights chief says she's sorry for making "flippant" remarks attributing 90% of campus sexual assault claims to both parties being drunk. Wednesday's apology by Candice Jackson, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, came on the eve of a series of meetings that...

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