Tech entrepreneur <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/vivek-ramaswamy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vivek Ramaswamy</a> called for shutting down the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Education</a> and moving that funding &#8220;in the hands of parents&#8221; so they could have the opportunity to decide where to educate their children. 
Ramaswamy made the comments Wednesday during the first 2024 Republican <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/2024-gop-presidential-debate-live-updates-as-eight-republicans-face-off-in-milwaukee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">presidential primary debate</a> in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/milwaukee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Milwaukee</a>, Wisconsin. More than $79 billion was allocated to the Department of Education in fiscal year 2023. Ramaswamy also advocated the end of local teachers unions, which have been a barrier to school choice and charter school initiatives. 
“We have a crisis of achievement. Let&#8217;s shut down the head of the snake, the Department of Education. Take that $80 billion and put it in the hands of parents across this country. This is the civil rights issue of our time,” he said. “Allow any parent to choose where they send their kids to school. End the teachers unions at the local level to allow public schools to compete, and then revive our national identity.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
True “privilege” is not based on the color of your skin. It’s being raised in a stable family with two parents with a focus on education and a faith in God. That’s the ultimate “privilege.” As President, it’ll be my job to make sure we help every kid in this country be able to… <a href="https://t.co/1XFaFe6eao">pic.twitter.com/1XFaFe6eao</a>
&mdash; Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) <a href="https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1694541273015668815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Additionally, Ramaswamy said that high school seniors should be required to take the same civics test that immigrants must pass to become citizens. He said that the crisis in American education, as kids have seen declining scores in key subjects like math and reading, is partly linked to fatherlessness. 
“Part of the problem is we also have a federal government that pays single women more not to have a man in the house than to have a man in the house, contributing to an epidemic of fatherlessness, and I think that goes hand in glove with the education crisis as well, because we have to remember: Education starts with the family; and, the nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind,” Ramaswamy said. 
Other candidates had similar answers on the topic of education. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott also went after teachers unions. 
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“The only way we can change education in this country is to break the backs of the teachers&#8217; unions. They are standing in the door-house of our kids, locking them into failing schools, locking them out of the greatest future they can have,” Scott said. 
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TIM SCOTT says &quot;the only way we change education in this nation is to BREAK THE BACKS OF THE TEACHERS UNIONS&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9Jzw8axHjD">pic.twitter.com/9Jzw8axHjD</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1694544388905464129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that Left-leaning politics were hampering education nationwide. &#8220;We need education in this country, not indoctrination in this country,” he said. 
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RON DESANTIS: &quot;We need education in this country, not indoctrination in this country.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/PDNs167lh1">pic.twitter.com/PDNs167lh1</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1694540603948765611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The debate took place at the Fiserv Forum and featured eight Republican candidates. Notably absent was former President Donald Trump, who opted to do a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-tucker-interview-racks-up-massive-views-addresses-debate-skip-indictments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-on-one interview</a> with Tucker Carlson that was released on X minutes before the debate began.

2024 Presidential Candidates Participate In Republican Primary Debate

Ramaswamy: Shut Down Dept Of Education, Move Funding To Parents To Allow School Choice

2024 Primaries

Debates

Department of Education

Elections

Milwaukee

Politics

Republican Primary

Ron DeSantis

School Choice

Teachers Unions

The Biden administration released new guidance on Monday for higher education institutions to legally consider a student&#8217;s race during admission in the wake of the U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-issues-landmark-ruling-on-affirmative-action-at-universities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court ban on affirmative action</a>.
&#8220;This is a moment of great urgency in higher education,&#8221; Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/white-house-promotes-paths-to-college-diversity-after-gutting-of-affirmative-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters Monday morning.
Just before the nation&#8217;s highest court broke for recesses at the end of June, SCOTUS issued a landmark ruling that said race-based admissions programs at Harvard University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the University of North Carolina programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Students for Fair Admissions sued the elite schools, accusing them of unfairly factoring race into their admissions processes, pointing to the high test scores of rejected Asian-American and white applicants. The group argued that Harvard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination by schools that receive federal funding. In the other case, the group accused the UNC of violating the 14th Amendment&#8217;s equal protection clause by considering race in its admissions process.
&#8220;We know what has happened at colleges when individual states have banned affirmative action in the past,&#8221; Cardona reportedly said during a press call on Monday. &#8220;Fewer students of color applied, and fewer students of color were admitted. We cannot afford that kind of backpedaling on a national scale.&#8221;
The decision now profoundly affects the admissions processes at universities across the country. But despite the nation&#8217;s highest court eliminating universities&#8217; ability to accept applicants based on race, some have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/universities-react-to-scotus-affirmative-action-ruling-harvard-vows-to-find-loophole" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicated</a> that they would search for a loophole in the ruling.
&#8220;Although this decision changes the landscape for admissions in higher education, it should not be used as an excuse to turn away from long-standing efforts to make those institutions more inclusive,&#8221; associate attorney general Vanita Gupta <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2023/08/14/biden-administration-issues-guidance-affirmative-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> said at a news conference. &#8220;Race can be relevant to a person&#8217;s life or a lived experience, and may impact one&#8217;s development motivations, academic interests or personal or professional aspirations. That impact can still be considered.&#8221;
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice published <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/ocr-questionsandanswers-tvi-20230814.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guidance</a> outlining available legal resources for colleges and universities to take other steps to achieve a diverse student body based on a range of factors, including race and ethnicity.
According to the question and answer portion of the document, federal officials said the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision &#8220;does not require institutions to ignore race when identifying prospective students for outreach and recruitment, provided that their outreach and recruitment programs do not provide targeted groups of prospective students preference in the admissions process.&#8221;
Some examples federal officials detailed include offering affinity clubs with race-related themes, considering how an applicant&#8217;s race has shaped personal experiences, and re-evaluating admissions preferences for students with legacy status or donor affiliation.
&#8220;With respect to admissions practices themselves, especially for the upcoming cycle, the Departments encourage colleges and universities to review their policies to ensure they identify and reward those attributes that they most value, such as hard work, achievement, intellectual curiosity, potential and determination,&#8221; the administration wrote in the &#8220;Dear Colleague&#8221; <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20230814.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a>.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told the Associated Press in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/affirmative-action-college-admissions-race-e8566608a1b9ce4efc7db6de41759ad1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, &#8220;Ensuring access to higher education for students from different backgrounds is one of the most powerful tools we have to prepare graduates to lead an increasingly diverse nation and make real our country&#8217;s promise of opportunity for all.&#8221;
Students for Fair Admissions has not responded to requests for comment.

US President Joe Biden White House Reproductive Healthcare Access

Biden Administration Issues Racial Diversity Guidance For College Admissions Post SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ban

Affirmative Action

Biden Administration

Department of Justice

Harvard

Supreme Court

The latest version of President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>’s student debt bailout, scaled back after its defeat in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a>, is again facing legal challenges.
Biden’s new plan involves forgiving the federal student loans of 800,000 borrowers worth roughly $39 billion. Two think tanks challenged it in a lawsuit filed on Friday, according to <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/think-tanks-file-suit-block-biden-administrations-plan-cancel-39b-student-loans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox Business</a>.
New Civil Liberties Alliance filed the legal challenge last week in Michigan on behalf of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Cato Institute. The lawsuit argues that the Department of Education is overstepping its authority with the forgiveness plan and asks the judge to rule it illegal.
The lawsuit is “a desperate attempt from right wing special interests to keep hundreds of thousands of borrowers in debt,” the Education Department said in a statement, according to the <a href="https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/08/06/groups-sue-to-block-bidens-second-try-on-student-loans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. “We are not going to back down or give an inch when it comes to defending working families.”
Biden’s original student debt forgiveness plan called for relieving up to $20,000 worth of federal debt for an estimated 43 million borrowers. The administration faced a couple of legal challenges, and it was ultimately <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/06/supreme-court-strikes-down-biden-student-loan-forgiveness-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thwarted</a> after several states argued it would illegally relieve loans that they had agreed to service, costing the states up to tens of millions of dollars every year.
The Supreme Court ruled the plan unconstitutional on June 30, knocking down Biden’s attempt at fulfilling a campaign promise that had always appeared to be in doubt.
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Roughly two weeks later, on July 14, the administration rolled out its next, scaled-back version.
“For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-provide-804000-borrowers-39-billion-automatic-loan-forgiveness-result-fixes-income-driven-repayment-plans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> at the time. “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking another historic step to right these wrongs and announcing $39 billion in debt relief for another 804,000 borrowers. By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve, just as we have done for public servants, students who were cheated by their colleges, and borrowers with permanent disabilities, including veterans. This Administration will not stop fighting to level the playing field in higher education.”

Miguel Cardona

Biden’s Latest Student Debt Bailout Plan Faces Legal Challenge From Think Tanks

Debt Forgiveness

Executive

Joe Biden

Michigan

Student Loan Cancellation

Student Loans

Washington D.C.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> is blocking funding for school hunting and archery programs approved under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Education Department</a> has cut off funding for school hunting and archery programs because of its interpretation of a provision in legislation passed last year, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). The law included an amendment to the ESEA that bans taxpayer funds from being used on “training in the use of a dangerous weapon,” according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-withholding-key-funding-schools-hunting-archery-programs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
Earlier this month, GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona concerned with the Department of Education’s interpretation of the amendment. Cornyn and Tillis <a href="https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2022/6/tillis-statement-on-senate-passage-of-the-bipartisan-safer-communities-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> the BSCA last year alongside Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
“We were alarmed to learn recently that the Department of Education has misinterpreted the BCSA to require the defending of certain longstanding educational and enrichment programs — specifically, archery and hunter education classes — for thousands of children, who rely on these programs to develop life skills, learn firearm safety and build self-esteem,” Cornyn and Tillis wrote, according to Fox News.
“The Department mistakenly believes that the BSCA precludes funding these enrichment programs,” the senators said. “Such an interpretation contradicts congressional intent and the text of the BSCA.”
The Education Department’s decision to cut funding for school hunting and archery programs has sparked pushback from shooting clubs, hunting industry groups, and others.
“It is ironic that the U.S. Department of Education is actively denying young Americans the chance to educate themselves on basic firearm and hunting safety so that they can go afield knowing how to keep themselves, their friends, and family safe,” <a href="https://twitter.com/SafariClubIntl/status/1684962225981726732" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Ben Cassidy, executive vice president at Safari Club International.
The National Rifle Association <a href="https://twitter.com/NRA/status/1684956532687925248" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “No surprise! This is another example of an anti-gun, anti-hunting administration abusing an ambiguous law filled with undefined and overly broad provisions to push their radical agenda.”
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The controversy over the BSCA follows a move last month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Administration to ban the use of lead ammunition and tackle from eight national wildlife refuges. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413510" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the regulation would depress hunting and fishing on public lands.
“As this proposed rule brings an increase in cost for sportsmen and women, we can inevitably expect a decrease in the number of individuals who can afford to enjoy the outdoors,” Westerman said in a statement. “Hunters and anglers are without question the Americans with the greatest interest in conservation and they contribute millions of dollars to conservation efforts each year.”

Archery

Biden Admin Cuts Funding For School Hunting, Archery Training Programs

Education

Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis declared that as president he would eliminate the cabinet-level Departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, and the IRS.
DeSantis, who has delivered on multiple promises in his state during his tenure, made the comments while <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/desantis-outlines-drug-smuggling-policy-cut-through-wall-end-up-stone-cold-dead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speaking</a> to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, who asked him if there were any federal agencies he would attempt to eliminate.
“We would do Education, we would do Commerce, we&#8217;d do Energy, and we would do IRS,” DeSantis declared.
“If Congress will work with me on doing that, we&#8217;ll be able to reduce the size and scope of government,” he continued. “If Congress won&#8217;t go that far, I&#8217;m going to use those agencies to push back against woke ideology and against the leftism that we see creeping into all institutions of American life.”
Two of the agencies DeSantis targeted were established by former President Jimmy Carter. He established the Department of Energy in 1977. The Department of Education was <a href="https://www.heritage.org/education/report/correcting-carters-mistake-removing-cabinet-status-the-us-department-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">established</a> in 1980, after the National Education Association, which had pushed for a federal agency since the turn of the century, made its first presidential endorsement ever by supporting Jimmy Carter in 1976. Carter’s running mate, Walter Mondale, whose brother was an NEA official, promised the NEA that a Carter administration would establish a Cabinet-level agency for education.
In order for a president to eliminate an agency of the federal government, the president must be granted presidential reorganization authority by Congress, and thus DeSantis would need to gain control of the Senate and keep control of the House to have a chance to set his plan in motion.
Presidential reorganization authority was first granted in 1932 and most recently granted to former President Ronald Reagan. Both former presidents George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama in 2012 asked for such authority, but it was not granted. Neither president’s party had control over the entire Congress at the time.
Last week, DeSantis and the state of Florida sued the Department of Education, accusing it of unconstitutionally collaborating with accreditation bodies to try to block DeSantis from bringing increased transparency and accountability to public colleges and universities.
“I will not allow Joe Biden’s Department of Education to defund America’s #1 higher education system all because we refuse to bow to unaccountable accreditors who think they should run Florida’s public universities,” DeSantis <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2023/06/22/governor-desantis-sues-biden-administration-to-ensure-freedom-in-higher-education/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pronounced</a>.
“Throughout my time in office, I have made it a priority to bring transparency and accountability to higher education and to reorient the mission of our colleges and universities away from purveying destructive ideologies and back toward the pursuit of truth and the preparation of our students for success,” he continued. “The Biden administration’s attempts to block these reforms is an abuse of federal power.”
The <a href="https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Accreditation-Complaint_as-filed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> noted that Florida’s postsecondary institutional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS), had threatened the accreditation of Florida State University (FSU) “merely because FSU was considering the State’s Commissioner of Education for university president.”

US-NEWS-DESANTIS-2024-MIAMI-MI

DeSantis: I’ll Abolish Education, Energy, Commerce Depts — And The IRS

Department of Commerce

Department of Energy

Average <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">math and reading</a> test scores for 13-year-olds in the United States hit the lowest levels in decades, according to a recent national long-term trend assessment released on Wednesday.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) officials <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ltt/2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the declining education levels occurred during the pandemic. However, the downward trajectory began at least a decade before government officials and school districts shuttered classroom doors and switched to online learning in response to COVID.
NAEP, which has been monitoring student performance in both subjects since the 1970s, administered the federal standardized basic skills tests last fall that showed an average of 256 out of 500 in reading scores and 271 out of 500 in mathematics scores in the 2022‒23 school year. Three years ago, reading levels were at 260, while math scores averaged about 280. Although the scores represented primarily lower-performing students and minority groups, every percentile saw decreased levels.
“The ‘green shoots’ of academic recovery that we had hoped to see have not materialized, as we continue to see worrisome signs about student achievement and well-being more than two years after most students returned for in-person learning,&#8221; National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said in a <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>. “There are signs of risk for a generation of learners in the data we are releasing today and have released over the past year.&#8221;
Carr said the center observed steep drops in achievement, troubling shifts in reading habits, and rising mental health challenges paired with “alarming” changes in school climate.
“The mathematics decline for 13-year-olds was the single largest decline we have observed in the past half a century,” Carr added. “The mathematics score for the lowest-performing students has returned to levels last seen in the 1970s, and the reading score for our lowest-performing students was actually lower than it was the very first year these data were collected, in 1971.”
According to the center, fewer students engage in “reading for fun” and forego taking algebra courses since 2012, particularly in the Western region of the U.S.
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“Aside from its academic effects, reading opens the mind and the heart to new ways of seeing and thinking about the world,” Carr said. “Many of our young people will never discover latent passions or areas of interest without reading broadly on their own time.”
NCES acting Associate Commissioner Dan McGrath said before 2012, the center noticed improvements in math and some in reading since the 1970s. However, middle school students&#8217; learning achievements continued declining, lasting more than a decade.
“Middle school is a critical time for students — a time when they are maturing academically as well as socially and emotionally,” McGrath said. “What happens for students in middle school can strongly influence their path through high school and beyond.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-us-secretary-education-miguel-cardona-recent-long-term-trend-assessment-13-year-olds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addressed</a> the assessment in a news release on Wednesday, arguing the latest data shows further evidence the pandemic had a devastating impact on students’ learning abilities nationwide.
Cardona filled much of his response pushing the Biden administration&#8217;s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan stimulus bill, in which he claims school districts committed nearly 60% of the funding received toward addressing lost learning time and hiring more school staff, including teachers, tutors, and counselors while extending learning time through high quality after school and summer learning programs.
Some lawmakers said the results of the latest assessment show the need for school choice.
“Students are entering high school who cannot read,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the top Republican on the Senate HELP Committee, said in a news release, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/21/national-math-and-reading-scores-for-13-year-olds-drop-00102715" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a>. “This is intolerable. Parents should have the power to place their child in a school which is most likely to address the child’s educational need. These scores make the case for school choice better than any other argument.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chair of the House Education and Workforce committee, told the news outlet that “education freedom is the key to reversing this trend.”
Both the NCES and the National Assessment Governing Board <a class=" js-tealium-tracking " href="https://www.nagb.gov/naep-subject-areas/long-term-trend/2023-naep-long-term-trend-release.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-tracking="mpos=&amp;mid=&amp;lindex=&amp;lcol=" aria-label="will host an event Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET (opens in a new window)">will host an event Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET</a> to review the test results.

A pupil dows math work during a math cla

U.S. Reading And Math Scores For 13-Year-Olds Declined To Lowest Level In Decades: Report

Public Schools

U.S.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed a federal complaint with the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Education</a>’s civil rights division after a teenage girl said that her school <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/18-year-old-male-identifying-as-female-enters-high-school-girls-locker-showers-naked-next-to-14-year-old-students-conservative-org-alleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed a male who identified as female to shower</a> alongside four teenage girls in a locker room. 
The complaint comes after WILL said that an 18-year-old male showered naked alongside four 14-year-old girls earlier this year at Sun Prairie East High School (EHS) in Sun Prairie, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a>. The <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/2023-06-14-SPASD-OCR-Complaint-FINAL-w.-Exhibits-A-E.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complaint</a>, filed to the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education, was made on behalf of the parents of one of the girls by WILL, a Wisconsin-based conservative law firm. 
“Parents and students should feel safe and have peace of mind when kids go back to school this fall. But, the Sun Prairie Area School District has frankly been dismissive in how it has handled the alleged sexual harassment towards these four freshman girls. The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights should promptly investigate the allegations made in this complaint, then act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices,” said WILL Associate Counsel Cory Brewer.
The complaint argues that Sun Prairie Area School District’s locker room policy violates Title IX, a policy that prohibits sex and gender discrimination. It says that the locker room policy is harmful to all girls in the school district. 
According to WILL, the incident prompting the complaint occurred on March 23 when several girls were showering after swim class. 
“As the girls began to shower, the male student approached them, entered the shower area, announced ‘I’m trans, by the way,’ and then fully undressed and showered next to the girls. He was initially turned towards the wall but turned and fully exposed his body to the four girls,” the complaint says. “He had not transitioned medically and had the physiological appearance of an adult male. Understandably, the girls closed their eyes and tried to hurry up and leave the showers.”
The complaint says that the assistant principal of the school did not inform a Title IX coordinator after learning of the incident. The girl says that she was never interviewed about the incident by the district Title IX coordinator. 
WILL, which has requested information on the school’s locker room policies and its handling of the incident, says that the school has been stonewalling the inquiry and demanded a payment of about $11,000 in order to cover the costs of the organization&#8217;s Freedom of Information request. 
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“These troubling events are occurring across the country, and by no means what happened in Wisconsin is an isolated incident. It’s imperative that the Biden Administration responds to our complaint — while sending a clear message that common sense and the rule of law will prevail in schools across America,” said WILL Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington. 
The Biden administration has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/1168460726/biden-title-ix-transgender-sports-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously proposed</a> expanding Title IX sports protections to gender identity, meaning that prohibiting a male who identified as a female to participate on a women’s sports team would be a violation of that student’s civil rights. 
However, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona appeared to say last month the department would oppose males showering alongside females. 
“We absolutely — as a father and as an educator— absolutely support making sure that boys and girls use different showers. That’s common sense,” <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMaryMiller/status/1658533210869882892" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he told</a> Illinois Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL).

Bench in Locker Room

Wisconsin School District Facing Civil Rights Complaint After Allegedly Allowing Male To Shower Alongside Teen Girls

Social Issues

Transgender

Wisconsin

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/ben-shapiro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Shapiro</a> challenged a member of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> to publicly read from a sexually graphic book found in school libraries across the country as the administration appoints a coordinator to challenge so-called &#8220;book bans.&#8221; 
Shapiro said that someone from Biden&#8217;s team should <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-battle-school-boards-over-graphic-content-in-gender-queer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly read the book “Gender Queer,”</a> by Maia Kobabe if they think that it is appropriate for young children. The book contains graphic descriptions of masturbation and oral sex alongside explicit illustrations. 
“I challenge somebody from the Biden administration to get up and read out loud on camera while showing the pictures &#8216;Gender Queer,&#8217; and explain why that should be available to 9-year-olds or 15-year-olds, for that matter, at public expense,” Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, said on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1743-breaking-trump-indicted-again-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his Friday podcast</a>. 
Shapiro’s challenge comes as the Biden administration <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/politics/white-house-lgbtq-protections/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it would be creating a position in the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to fight against local and state laws intended to shield children from graphic books like “Gender Queer” in schools.
One scene in “Gender Queer,” found in school libraries across the country, involves a teenager having a sexual fantasy about an adult male. 
“What [Biden] really wants is for your local second grader to be able to walk into a school library and see graphic cartoon depictions of anal sex. That&#8217;s really what Joe Biden wants. I notice that everybody on the Left who constantly talks about these book bannings is unwilling to actually read out loud the books that they think should not be prevented from being disseminated,” Shapiro said. 
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The Daily Wire host added that Biden was only pretending to care about free speech, pointing to how the Left has pursued book bans for other books that did not contain sexually explicit content. 
He also pointed out that the measures being taken to shield children from explicit content didn’t really qualify as a book ban, pointing out that most parents and advocates were just restricting what content school children had access to. 
In recent years, parents have shown up to school board meetings across the country to read from sexually explicit books available to their children, prompting local and state governments to approve measures giving parents more oversight of the materials available to their children.

Press Briefing Held By Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre At The White House

Ben Shapiro Challenges Biden Admin To Read From Sexually Explicit Book Found In School Libraries

Ben Shapiro

Books

LGBTQ

House Republicans are questioning Education Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/miguel-cardona" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miguel Cardona</a> over the potential for waste and fraud in aspects of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Education Department</a>’s student loan repayment plan. 
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-comer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Comer</a> (R-KY) and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to Cardona on Friday asking how the department planned to deter potential fraud since it was pursuing an income-based repayment plan without verification measures in place for income.
&#8220;In light of the Oversight Committee’s observations about self-certification in multiple COVID-19 pandemic relief programs, we are concerned about the extent to which the Department is leaving taxpayers vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse,&#8221; they wrote in a letter <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/news/house/comer-gop-demand-answers-cardona-student-loan-repayment-abuse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first obtained</a> by the Washington Examiner. 
While student loan payments have not yet resumed, the current plan in place stipulates lower monthly payments for those with lower incomes. The Republicans are concerned because of they say the income is self-verified, potentially exposing the program to abuse. 
&#8220;The Biden Administration’s student loan bailout scheme leaves taxpayers holding the bag,&#8221; Comer told the Examiner. &#8220;Biden’s Department of Education has now kicked the door wide open to waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating verification measures designed to prevent fraud in student loan repayments. We need Secretary Cardona to provide answers about why the Department is taking actions that make hardworking taxpayers liable when student loan borrowers misrepresent their income.”
The letter referenced the large amount of fraud that occurred with the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID pandemic because of similar self-certification measures. Foxx said that the department was showing that it was not ready to restart the payment process. 
&#8220;When borrowers initially enrolled in an [income-driven repayment] plan, they provided tax return information,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It’s ridiculous for the Department to not enforce the program requirements. This decision calls into question the department’s motives and its overall preparedness to handle the return to repayment for millions of borrowers.&#8221;
The letter comes as the department is getting ready to resume student loan payments, something that has been <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/federal-student-loan-repayments-restart-education-secretary-confirms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paused</a> for three years. 
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&#8220;We&#8217;re preparing to restart repayment because the emergency period is over, and we&#8217;re preparing our borrowers to restart,&#8221; Cardona told senators during a hearing on Thursday. 
Some payments could be impacted by how <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scotus-conservatives-cool-to-bidens-student-loan-cancellation-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Supreme Court decides to rule</a> on Biden’s student debt cancellation plan, which would unilaterally cancel up to $20,000 in unpaid loans for 40 million borrowers.
“We recognize that during the pandemic, it was very difficult for borrowers,” Cardona <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/student-loan-payments-to-resume-7497260" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We are committed to making sure that once a decision is made, that we&#8217;re going to resume payments 60 days after, but no later than June 30. We&#8217;re going to begin that process.”

President-Elect Joe Biden And Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announce Miguel Cardona As Hhe Nominee For Education Secretary

Biden’s Education Secretary Under Fire Over Potential For Fraud In ‘Student Loan Bailout Scheme’

Congress

House Republicans

James Comer

Standardized testing is a controversial practice in the American public school system. Critics contend that standardized tests don&#8217;t take creativity or complex problem-solving skills into account, instead focusing solely on rote memorization. They also argue that the tests don&#8217;t serve as good predictors of future success and could be unfair to certain disadvantaged groups.
Whether those criticisms have any validity or not, they can lend some insight on the basic knowledge base of future U.S. citizens at a critical point in their education.
The U.S. history and civics tests administered by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) last year provided one such insight: a large portion of eighth graders are woefully uninformed about the nation&#8217;s history and the workings of its government.
The <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ushistory/2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average score</a> on the eighth grade U.S. history test sunk to its lowest level since the test began in 1994. A mere 13% of students scored proficient on the test, while only 1% scored advanced. Meanwhile, 40% (4 out of 10!) of students who took the test scored below basic — up from 34% in 2018 and 29% in 2014. Overall, the average score on the test has decreased 9 points since its apex in 2014. Additionally, lower-performing students experienced a larger drop, between 6 and 7 points, compared to higher-performing students, between 3 and 5 points, from 2018 to 2022.
Average scores on particular themes in American history showed an even more drastic drop. The average score decreased 7 points on questions regarding America&#8217;s role in the world, 9 points on the themes of democracy and technology, and a whopping 11 points on questions pertaining to American culture.
The U.S. civics test <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/civics/2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> similarly disappointing results, with the test seeing its first ever drop in scores since its inception in 1998. The average score dropped 4 points from 2018 to 2022. Twenty percent of students scored proficient on the 2022 iteration of the test, and 2% scored advanced — double the percentage from the history exam. But 31% scored below basic, up from 27% in 2018.
Higher performing students saw basically no change in scores from 2018 to 2022 on the civics test, but students in the 50th percentile and lower saw a decrease of 3 points.
The news that scores have remained basically stagnant over the last several decades is punctuated by the fact that the United States <a href="https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics#:~:text=U.S.%20and%20World%20Education%20Spending&amp;text=Schools%20in%20the%20United%20States,operation%20and%20Development%20(OECD)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">maintains</a> one of the highest rates of education spending per pupil in the world.
The significant learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic almost certainly has a part to play in 2022&#8217;s dismal numbers — scores on other subjects like math and reading have also decreased. But the drop in scores on the U.S. history test had begun way before lockdowns stunted the nation&#8217;s education system. Another partial explanation for why students&#8217; knowledge of America&#8217;s past may come from what they are being taught in their history courses.
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At around the same time as history scores began to decline, critical race theory and radical gender ideology began to creep into school curricula. While CRT has seemingly infected every school subject, including seemingly non-political subjects like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/florida-rejects-dozens-of-math-books-containing-critical-race-theory-and-other-indoctrinating-concepts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">math</a> and science, the push has been mostly concerned with reshaping students&#8217; perceptions of American history.
One of the more infamous examples of CRT infiltrating public schools was the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/schools-1619-project-curriculum-historical-errors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adoption</a> of NYT journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones&#8217; &#8220;1619 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/1619-project-creator-raked-in-1m-last-year-for-college-speeches-on-inequality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Project</a>&#8221; in several school districts across the country. The &#8220;1619 Project,&#8221; originally a series of articles published in The New York Times in 2019, posited that anti-black racism has impacted every facet of American society and that American history should be viewed through the lens of racial oppression of black people by white people. The project also asserts that the true beginning point of American history is 1619, when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, rather than the more traditional date of 1607, when Jamestown was established.
Though the project won a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 and scored Hannah-Jones numerous accolades and lucrative speaking engagements, it was roundly criticized by prominent historians for its numerous inaccuracies, including the assertion that the United States was founded explicitly to protect slavery and that African Americans campaigned for civil rights alone. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson and Brown University Professor Gordon Wood were some of the most vocal critics of the project&#8217;s interpretation of American history. In fact, they joined with three other respected historians to <a href="https://www.cbs17.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2021/07/NYT-1619-Letter-Bennet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">send</a> a letter to the NYT lambasting the project&#8217;s mistakes and mischaracterizations in December 2019.
&#8220;We are dismayed at some of the factual errors in the project and the closed process behind it. These errors, which concern major events, cannot be described as interpretation or &#8216;framing.&#8217; They are matters of verifiable fact, which are the foundation of honest scholarship and honest journalism,&#8221; the letter said.
Soon after it was released, the Pulitzer Center <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/1619-project-enters-american-classrooms-adding-new-sizzle-slavery-significant-cost/#:~:text=Schools%20or%20school%20districts%20in,3%2C500%20classrooms%20used%20the%20materials." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in May 2020 that more than 3,500 classrooms had used materials related to the &#8220;1619 Project.&#8221; And that number has only grown — Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/schools-1619-project-curriculum-historical-errors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in April 2022 that over 4,000 educators were using the materials in their classrooms.
City Journal <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/yes-critical-race-theory-is-being-taught-in-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a survey in October 2022 that asked recent high school graduates, aged 18 to 20, whether they had been actively taught six concepts integral to CRT. Out of 1,505 respondents from across the country, 36% <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/yes-critical-race-theory-is-being-taught-in-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they had been taught in class that &#8220;America is a systemically racist country,&#8221; 41% said they had been taught that &#8220;In America, white people have white privilege,&#8221; and 30% said that they had been taught that &#8220;America is a patriarchal society.&#8221;
Several states, including Georgia and Florida, have already taken action to ban CRT in classrooms, but some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/project-veritas-appears-to-catch-activist-boasting-about-selling-illegal-crt-curriculum-to-indoctrinate-kids-mocking-gov-kemp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">activists</a> have already found ways of circumventing state regulations.
It should be noted that the sample questions provided in the NAEP report don&#8217;t appear to be concerned with race and gender beyond the facts. A question rated as basic by the NAEP asked why Americans supported the 18th Amendment (Prohibition), and a question rated proficient asked what European explorers were looking for when they sailed the coasts and rivers of North America in the 17th century (a water route to Asia). None of the answer choices for either question specifically mentioned race or race relations.
The sample question rated advanced did touch on race relations in the U.S. — it asked students to identify two ideas from the Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence that Martin Luther King Jr. may have been referring to in a specific part of his &#8220;I Have A Dream&#8221; speech from 1963. Unlike the previous questions, it was not multiple choice, and students would be required to write their own answers in short sentences. According to NAEP, only 6% of students who took the test gave a complete answer to the question.
With reportedly thousands of teachers more interested in peddling thoroughly debunked pseudo-history to young students rather than teaching the facts, it may not be a surprise that their knowledge of American history is lacking. With more and more instruction time going toward pushing an ideological agenda, there is necessarily less time to cover the facts tested on the NAEP&#8217;s exam. If the CRT push continues, a whole generation of future citizens could finish their education with an incomplete, and oftentimes warped, view of their own nation&#8217;s history.

Desks and chairs arranged in classroom at high school

8th Graders’ History Scores Are The Lowest Ever, But Is It Really A Shock Given What They’re Being Taught?

8th Graders' History Scores Are The Lowest Ever, But Is It Really A Shock Given What They're Being Taught?

1619 Project

American History

History

Readers Pass

A sizable portion of students who exited their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">university</a> programs would be likely to return if some or all of their student loans are nixed, according to a <a href="https://www.gallup.com/analytics/468986/state-of-higher-education.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup, a finding which comes as a plan from the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> to cancel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/student-loan-cancellation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student debt</a> for millions of individuals is examined by the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a>.
The policy, which would cancel $10,000 in student loans per borrower earning salaries less than $125,000 as well as $20,000 per borrower who received Pell Grants, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shifting-the-burden-to-taxpayers-biden-slammed-with-lawsuit-against-student-loan-power-grab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enacted</a> via executive order last year. Justices heard arguments in February for two cases against the student loan cancellation policy, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-dismisses-republican-led-challenge-to-biden-student-debt-bailout" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one</a> from six Republican attorneys general and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shifting-the-burden-to-taxpayers-biden-slammed-with-lawsuit-against-student-loan-power-grab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another</a> from the Job Creators Network Foundation, and are expected to release a decision next June.
The survey from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation revealed that some 47% of students who “stopped out,” defined as those who are not currently enrolled in degree programs but have some college experience, would be “very likely” to enroll once again if “some or all” of their student loans are canceled. An additional 31% said they were “somewhat likely” to continue their education, while a significantly smaller 22% of students said they were either “not too likely” or “not likely at all” to resume their studies.
Gallup conducted the survey in late October and early November, months after the Biden administration&#8217;s student debt plan was unveiled but well before the Supreme Court heard arguments from opponents of the move.
The average federal student loan balance is $38,000, according to <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/portfolio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Education Department. Students who disenrolled from their degree programs, a phenomenon which accelerated amid the disruptions caused by lockdowns and virtual learning, said on average that 70% of their outstanding loans must be forgiven to justify a return to the classroom.
Nearly two-thirds of individuals who maintain student loan balances were refraining from making payments at the time of the survey due to ongoing pauses for federal student debt repayment, a measure introduced as an emergency pandemic relief measure.
Willingness among disenrolled students to consider resuming their education as a result of student debt cancellation differed in accordance with racial identification: 57% of black respondents were “very likely” to enroll if “some or all” of their loans are nixed, while 49% of Hispanic respondents and 37% of white respondents said the same.
Critics of the student loan policy note that the measure would increase the national debt: the overall cost of the loan cancellation could reach $400 billion, according to an <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2022-09/58494-Student-Loans.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimate</a> from the Congressional Budget Office. The policy may cause additional distortions in the postsecondary education market as borrowers consider the likelihood of more bailouts, according to an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-student-loan-cancellation-would-cost-330-billion-and-largely-help-the-wealthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from economists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, who said that “students might eventually reorganize their financing toward additional borrowing.”
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The lawsuits <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-prepares-to-hear-arguments-about-bidens-student-debt-cancellation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">presented</a> before the Supreme Court assert that the policy violates the notice-and-comment processes mandated by the Administrative Procedure Act, which ensures that affected parties can offer comments on federal rules, and contradicts a recent ruling which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-rules-against-bidens-epa-says-agency-does-not-have-authority-to-regulate-carbon-dioxide-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">determined</a> that federal agencies cannot assert “highly consequential power beyond what Congress could reasonably be understood to have granted.” Justices who compose the conservative majority of the Supreme Court expressed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scotus-conservatives-cool-to-bidens-student-loan-cancellation-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">skepticism</a> toward the federal student debt cancellation plan and appeared to indicate that the White House should receive approval from Congress before attempting to implement the policy.

Biden and Cardona

Student Debt Cancellation May Cause Some Disenrolled College Students To Return: Poll

Student Debt Cancellation May Cause Some Disenrolled College Students To Return

College

Eighth graders had the lowest U.S. history scores on record in 2022 and among the lowest civics scores, the Department of Education revealed this week.
The Education Department on Wednesday released the first federal history and civics testing data since before the COVID pandemic. The data shows that the last few years have erased the progress made since the 1990s on eighth grade students&#8217; knowledge of history and civics.
Only about 13% of eighth graders met proficiency <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ushistory/2022/">standards</a> for U.S. history last year, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also called the Nation’s Report Card. Proficient means students could explain major themes, periods, events, people, ideas, and turning points in the nation&#8217;s history. Only 1% of students who took the test were rated as advanced in U.S. history.
Only about <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/civics/2022/">one-fifth</a> of students were proficient or better in civics.
In addition, last year more students also performed below &#8220;basic&#8221; levels in both U.S. history and civics, the data shows. Four in ten eighth graders scored below basic in history, while about 31% scored below basic in civics. Eighth graders got an average history score of 258 out of 500, five points lower than 2018. They scored an average civics score of 150 out of 300, three points lower than 2018.
Students who were already struggling saw their scores sink significantly, while students who were excelling before the pandemic continued to do well for the most part.
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History and civics were the two most dismal subjects as far as how many students were proficient, the Education Department data showed. History and civics scores are “woefully low in comparison to other subjects,” Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics told reporters Tuesday.
“These data are a national concern. The health of our democracy depends on informed and engaged citizens,” Carr said.
Math and reading scores have also suffered over the pandemic, the Education Department revealed last year. Math scores <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/math-scores-dropped-in-every-state-during-pandemic-report-card-shows-11666584062?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a> among fourth and eighth graders in almost every state, the Education Department reported back in October. Reading scores have also <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-fourth-graders-cant-read-one-phoenix-school-has-a-new-way-to-fight-pandemic-learning-loss-11633818431?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sunk</a> across the country, erasing the last three decades of progress.
Eighth graders scored an average 274 out of 500 in math, eight points lower than 2018. Their average reading score was 260 out of 500, down three points from 2018.
Many students returned to classrooms last year reading at the same level as when the pandemic started, putting them two grade levels behind. A January study <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/health/covid-learning-loss-study-wellness/index.html">suggested</a> that students lost about 35% of a normal school year&#8217;s worth of learning, starting when remote learning began.
Learning loss caused by many months of remote learning during the pandemic spurred parents across the country to demand schools return to in-person learning, especially after data showed that children were low-risk for serious cases of COVID.
Some parents even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-moms-and-dads-taking-over-school-boards-across-the-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran for school board</a> positions and won, hoping to stop the learning loss in their district.
In Florida, mom and new board member Stephanie Meyer said failing grades and student behavioral problems made her unwilling to send her own children to the same schools she once attended.
In Michigan, Tom Payne, a grandfather and new school board president, dubbed the district’s academic performance before he was elected “mediocre at best.”

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