When Naomi Best began a counseling psychology master&#8217;s program last year at Santa Clara University, she did not expect her professor to ask her what she disliked about her genitals.
As a required part of Professor Chongzheng Wei&#8217;s &#8220;Human Sexuality&#8221; class, students were asked to submit a &#8220;sexual autobiography&#8221; that could include talking about their genitals, sharing when they first began masturbating, or discussing their &#8220;personal sexual aspirations,&#8221; Best said.
The syllabus said students need not answer questions that &#8220;make you feel extremely uncomfortable,&#8221; but that was easier said than done.
At one point, a trans-identifying male psychologist was invited to be a guest speaker for the class, she said. When Best asked him what he meant by &#8220;gender euphoria,&#8221; he allegedly told her that he &#8220;almost came&#8221; when he saw himself in the mirror as a woman for the first time, she said.
The trans-identifying psychologist also allegedly told students, “trans women have the only p***ies that can blow up the world,” Best said.
Then there was the day when Professor Wei, who goes by &#8220;he/they/ta&#8221; pronouns, allegedly shared that he had bought a device at a kink festival to elongate his foreskin, Best said. The professor also allegedly showed the class an instructional video on how to tie someone up who was wearing a slave “gimp suit” to an X-shaped cross.
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ICYMI: Therapy student <a href="https://twitter.com/naomieppsbest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@naomieppsbest</a> blows the whistle on mandatory training in smut. <a href="https://twitter.com/maireadelordi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@maireadelordi</a> reports. <a href="https://t.co/xf5PmTcxGo">pic.twitter.com/xf5PmTcxGo</a>
&mdash; Morning Wire (@MorningWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorningWire/status/1938247484267970876?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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He also allegedly had students watch a video of a BDSM dungeon tour that featured a female influencer being flogged, electroshocked, ball-gagged, put in a guillotine, subjected to knife “play,” and wrapped in plastic and made to jump up and down as a &#8220;humiliation tactic,&#8221; all with no warning, Best said.
Afterwards, Wei smiled and asked if students wanted to try it themselves. Best walked out of class that day, and ended up dropping the class altogether.
&#8220;There&#8217;s an argument to be made that therapists should be aware of the breadth of human sexual practices, including BDSM, and I am not contesting that, but the manner in which this material was presented was promotional,&#8221; Best told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;There was no clinical framing,&#8221; Best said. &#8220;I want to be able to talk with clients about sex if they want to talk about it. If a client comes to me and brings it up that they get sexual gratification from inflicting pain upon somebody, I think that therapists should be trained to have curiosity about that association &#8230; not for the reason of telling them they&#8217;re a bad person. Therapists don&#8217;t do that. But to have a conversation about it, if they bring it up.&#8221;
She had dropped the &#8220;Human Sexuality&#8221; class once before when she was asked — and declined — to discuss her &#8220;masturbation history&#8221; in a group of four students that included a man, she said.
Best, a 26-year-old married mother of a toddler, believed that revealing her personal sexual history would be a violation of her Christian beliefs. So, she requested the same accommodation she had heard female Muslim students were offered, which was to take the course remotely. Instead, Professor Wei asked to meet with her and promised there would be no personal sexual disclosure in his class, but that turned out to be wrong, she said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just clearly a hostile learning environment, and I don&#8217;t know how to explain that to somebody who just doesn&#8217;t inherently understand it,&#8221; she said.
Best took her complaints about the course all the way up the chain at Santa Clara University, exhausting every official avenue from the Title IX office to the school&#8217;s president. She explained her issues with the class — the invasive sexual autobiography, a swath of &#8220;gratuitous&#8221; sexually titillating course material, and alleged unprofessional behavior from the professor and guest speakers.
But she said her concerns were not taken seriously. The school dismissed her Title IX claim, and when she asked for a refund for the class, a school representative called her request &#8220;astonishing,&#8221; according to emails shared with The Daily Wire.
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The time is now to take on ideological capture of therapy. I’m just getting started. <a href="https://t.co/BTm4OrHUFM">pic.twitter.com/BTm4OrHUFM</a>
— Naomi Best (@naomieppsbest) <a href="https://twitter.com/naomieppsbest/status/1935170217090629938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Ideological capture is near complete in the field of psychology. Schools, training grounds, accreditation bodies, and professional guilds are all complicit.
&mdash; Naomi Best (@naomieppsbest) <a href="https://twitter.com/naomieppsbest/status/1935140122296725918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Blew the whistle in <a href="https://twitter.com/WSJopinion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WSJopinion</a> on ideological rigidity in therapy training. A week later, I am fired from my internship with the regret of my boss. This field is in crisis. The public needs to know. <a href="https://t.co/EldOjq0hOG">pic.twitter.com/EldOjq0hOG</a>
&mdash; Naomi Best (@naomieppsbest) <a href="https://twitter.com/naomieppsbest/status/1933292756765716743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Last week, Best received a letter from Sabrina Zirkel, dean of the School of Education and Counseling Psychology telling her that, &#8220;we do not agree with your interpretation or characterization of what the syllabus required&#8221; and &#8220;based on input from others who were present, we also do not agree with your assertions about and characterization of what occurred during the class.&#8221;
The dean argued that &#8220;the class requires internal self-reflection which is the type of work that therapists ask of their clients,&#8221; but that &#8220;under no circumstances were you required to disclose sexual memories, sexual experiences, or any other personal information that you did not wish to share.&#8221;
The school said Best still has the opportunity to &#8220;complete this content through approved continuing education classes offered by a third-party provider.&#8221;
Professor Wei and the heads of the Education and Counseling Psychology school all referred requests for comment to Santa Clara University&#8217;s media office.
In a statement to The Daily Wire, Santa Clara University said that &#8220;no student is expected to or required to reveal or disclose private sexual information they do not want to share&#8221; and &#8220;self-disclosure of an intensely personal nature is not required.&#8221;
The school said the class has been taught with a similar approach and similar assignments since the mid-1990s.
&#8220;We do not agree with many of the student’s public assertions about the class,&#8221; the university said. &#8220;People who were present dispute statements being made by the student and her characterization of classroom discussions and course content, including the readings, speakers, and assignments.&#8221;
Best says one of the books the class studied was &#8220;The Guide To Getting It On,&#8221; a book with explicit cartoons of sexual acts, whose author <a href="https://ucsdguardian.org/2004/06/01/summer-reading-heats-up-with-sex-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he wrote the book as &#8220;revenge for eight years in Catholic school.&#8221; Santa Clara University is a Catholic Jesuit school.
The school said it could not comment on the details of Best&#8217;s complaint but said the Title IX office may sometimes conclude that &#8220;course requirements or classroom content are protected by the principles of academic freedom.&#8221;
Best believes her experience points to a deeper problem in the counseling psychology world.
&#8220;What happened at Santa Clara University was unethical and will be remedied,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I want to bring awareness to the fact that psychology and counseling has been ideologically captured. That means that there is one permissible worldview for upcoming therapists to hold, and it is grounded in critical theory.&#8221;
Earlier this month, Best came out publicly with her concerns and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/santa-clara-universitys-crazy-idea-of-human-sexuality-therapy-licensing-higher-education-44e744ce?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAijGcRg9HzkiSNcp-aiyabuI168QfQHcSgOG8e-CkmVRCiDtuKx8MB3kTfwXg%3D%3D&amp;gaa_ts=685389bf&amp;gaa_sig=eP2Ptw3OgBEwcKj5AHvObMjHZ8FfWvgADp2XkRUWKX2-oX7ISvVUM9iI5v2Uu5eER1jBPWtyOlwX7tbFI52J0A%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
After her op-ed ran, Best said she was fired from her required therapy internship — unrelated to the school — after she was called into a meeting with over a dozen colleagues where she said she was &#8220;attacked for what I wrote.&#8221;
&#8220;I think I just blew up my career,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire.
However, since going public with her allegations, Best has received an outpouring of support.
An alumnus of Santa Clara University <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/santa-clara-an-alumnus-would-like-a-word-human-sexuality-course-69440035?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAjukHLV0uaBwUu8n-oX1QMhkeRjH8Ez31nLAlhKctGAqw03SqRFKZCS4c-l4g%3D%3D&amp;gaa_ts=685389bf&amp;gaa_sig=o5uKqr-rOlgMrQUZTfxPe0JGPDTiE42klL79rBZwsXHDNKT43B1L3mdU0QFNkpZ7MS2E1T6JxiUunxEld0LrPg%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Best&#8217;s experience with her graduate class &#8220;gobsmacking, sordid and sad&#8221; in a letter to the editor The Journal published.
Her social media videos discussing the situation have been viewed millions of times, and many people have reached out in support, including lawyers and other students with similar experiences, she said.
&#8220;Two weeks ago, I was living a private life with a great career path,&#8221; Best said. &#8220;I am putting that on the line to bring this issue to the public&#8217;s attention because I think it is important and I think people will be harmed if it is not addressed.&#8221;

How A California Psychology Student Exposed The Dark Side Of Therapy Education

How A California Psychology Student Became A Whistleblower For Smut In Therapy Education

American Universities

California

College

Education

Gender

higher education

LGBT

LGBTQ

Transgender

The nation&#8217;s largest teachers union imposes racial quotas for its board and leadership, designating a portion of its roles for those who qualify as an “ethnic minority,” a report from Defending Education, exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, reveals.
The National Education Association (NEA), which <a href="https://www.nea.org/">calls itself</a> “the nation&#8217;s largest professional employee organization,” stipulates in its constitution that various boards and committees are required to have a specific proportion of “ethnic minority” members, and that elections can be held for certain positions with the specific intent “to elect a member of an ethnic-minority group.” The NEA’s <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/teachers-unions-bylaws-bipoc-delegates-and-reps/">bylaws</a> spell out those who qualify as ethnic minorities, listing all racial categories other than whites.
“Ethnic minorities shall comprise at least twenty (20) percent of the Board,” the NEA constitution reads, adding that the “Representative Assembly shall elect additional directors as appropriate to assure such ethnic-minority representation.”
“There shall be a minimum of twenty percent ethnic minority representation on each committee,” the NEA constitution goes on to say. The organization’s constitution also stipulates that, if the NEA has had white presidents for eleven consecutive years, then “the Association shall take such steps as may be legally permissible to elect a member of an ethnic-minority group.”
While the NEA focuses on imposing its racial agenda, it has presided over a decline in educational outcomes, Defending Education Director of Outreach Erika Sanzi told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;The NEA has become a race-obsessed organization, and these racial quotas written into their constitutions and bylaws provide further evidence of how far they&#8217;ve fallen,” Sanzi charged. “It has become an ideological project for them, and it&#8217;s no surprise that educational outcomes continue to decline as the largest teachers union in the country become more and more extreme.”
This focus on DEI isn’t relegated to NEA itself, however. The organization’s affiliate groups across the country similarly maintain specific positions that can only be held by members of certain racial and ethnic groups.
The California Teachers Association, an affiliate of the NEA, limits certain elected representative positions within the organization to those who identify as “BIPOC,” an acronym that stands for “black, indigenous, people of color.” Those running for the organization’s at-large position “must be BIPOC,” the group’s <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/teachers-unions-bylaws-bipoc-delegates-and-reps/">election manual</a> states.
“NEA policy requires that each state include BIPOC delegates in numbers commensurate with the population of the state,” the manual adds.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, another NEA affiliate, similarly disqualifies white people from holding certain elected positions on account of their race. The organization’s board of directors <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/teachers-unions-bylaws-bipoc-delegates-and-reps/">reserves a spot</a> for an “At-Large Director for Ethnic Minority Membership,” noting that the term is used to refer to those who are “American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and Cape Verdean.”
There’s also the Michigan Education Association, which <a href="https://mea.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/M-3-MEA-PAC-Policies-May-2024-pending-RA-and-Board-approval.pdf">stipulates</a> that the governing board of its political action council must include “two (2) members who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color (BIPOC).”
Defending Education points out that these race-based policies have become commonplace in other organizations across the country, noting that at least 36 teachers union organizations, from Wyoming to Mississippi, reserve positions on boards or committees for those who qualify as &#8220;BIPOC.&#8221;
The NEA and its state affiliates did not return requests for comment.

NEA Speaker

EXCLUSIVE: Teachers Unions Across America Have Racial Quotas For Leadership Roles

DEIA

National Education Association

school

Teachers Unions

An education watchdog asked the Trump administration to crack down on one of the largest all-women’s colleges in the country because it admits transgender-identifying males and maintains restrooms. 
Defending Education filed a civil rights <a href="https://defendinged.org/complaints/ocr-complaint-smith-college/">complaint</a> on Friday alleging that Smith College’s admissions, discrimination, and restroom policies violate federal law. The complaint urges the department to investigate Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, for discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX. 
The complaint also argues that the university policies defy President Donald Trump’s executive orders combating gender ideology and the Education Department’s <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-enforce-2020-title-ix-rule-protecting-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guidance</a> that Title IX does not include gender identity as a protected class. 
“Discrimination based on gender identity is not the same as discrimination based on sex under Title IX, as this Department well knows, and the Supreme Court has never held it is,” Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry wrote in the complaint. “In other words, to the extent Smith’s accommodations for so-called gender identity encroach upon sex-specific programs and spaces, it is in violation of Title IX.”
The complaint also says that the school is violating federal policy by allowing males who identify as females to take the place of females in admissions. For the 2023-2024 school year, Smith only admitted around 20% of those who applied. 
Its policies make clear that the historically all-women’s college allows men to enter so long as they identify as transgender. 
“People who identify as women—cis, trans and nonbinary women—are eligible to apply to Smith,” the college <a href="https://www.smith.edu/your-campus/offices-services/equity-inclusion/gender-identity-expression">explains</a>. “Smith’s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant’s affirmation of identity is sufficient.”
The decision to admit males was first made in 2015 after Smith <a href="https://www.smith.edu/president-kathleen-mccartney/letters/2014-15/admission-policy-announcement">conducted</a> a year-long study group on the topic. 
“Smith has students, faculty and staff who are trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming. Smith students are here to engage with each other socially and academically in respectful ways, and our community values the range of identities that the student body represents,&#8221; Smith says. 
The college says that it is expanding more of its facilities to allow men into women’s bathrooms and locker rooms. 
“Every single-occupancy restroom on campus is designated all-gender, and more and more multi-stall bathrooms are as well,” the college notes, adding that it has “an all-gender locker room in the athletic facilities, with private showering and changing areas.”
The complaint flagged other aspects of Smith’s embrace of gender ideology, including the Schacht Center for Health and Wellness&#8217; commitment to providing “gender-affirming primary care, including hormone therapy, labs and specialty consultations and referrals for students interested in surgeries,” <a href="https://thesophian.com/gender-affirming-care-at-the-schacht-center-amid-trump-bans/">according</a> to the college’s independent student newspaper. 
Defending Education would like to see the Education Department, which has pushed for schools to abandon gender ideology, address the &#8220;unlawful&#8221; policies at Smith. 
“At a minimum, then, Smith’s gender-identity-based Equal Opportunity Policy; its admissions policy, which accepts natal men in lieu of similarly situated female applicants; and its all-gender restroom and locker room policies, which divest female students of their privacy, safety, and equal educational opportunity, all appear to violate Title IX,” Perry wrote in the complaint.
In a statement shared with The Daily Wire, Perry added that it remains important to fight for girls and women 53 years after the passage of Title IX.
“On the anniversary of Title IX, it bears remembering that Title IX was passed after an extensive campaign from women&#8217;s rights activists and a federal court decision holding that high school girls were not entitled to the same athletic opportunities as boys. Yet today, some institutions of higher education, including those that hold themselves out to be single-sex, appear to adhere to the notion that sex is fungible &#8212; even something that arch feminist Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote was false.&#8221;
&#8220;Our organization is keenly interested in ensuring equality of educational opportunity for all students, and it is our hope that when assessing the &#8216;female-only&#8217; policies of colleges like Smith, the Department of Education will take a closer look at that college&#8217;s possible attempts to rewrite Title IX, and allow transgender-identified males access to women&#8217;s-only spaces and admission slots,&#8221; Perry said. &#8220;Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. Today and always, Title IX is worth celebrating, protecting, and enforcing so that men and women can truly be equal&#8211;and equally protected&#8211;in American education.”

Smith College campus, a women’s liberal arts college

All-Women’s College Breaking The Law By Admitting Trans-Identifying Men: Complaint

Department of Education

Massachusetts

Trump Administration

As a mother, advocate, and candidate for the Alabama State School Board, I’ve seen firsthand how the quiet march of artificial intelligence (AI) into our public school classrooms is happening with little public awareness and even less parental consent. While the tech industry touts AI as the future of education, the reality is far more complicated — and in many ways, far more dangerous.
This is not a debate about whether technology belongs in schools. It’s a call to pause, evaluate, and protect children before we hand over their data, emotions, and daily experiences to unregulated machines.
Across the country, AI tools are already embedded in software used in classrooms — often installed by default on school-issued devices without informing parents. These tools don’t just support learning; they track facial expressions, predict emotional states, and collect vast amounts of personal information. When I raised concerns in my local district, even administrators admitted they didn’t know the apps even existed on the machines.
It gets worse. Some AI systems store data on third-party servers, outside the reach of school district oversight. Parents rarely have access to this data, don’t know who can see it, and can’t opt out. In many cases, children are being profiled and emotionally analyzed without ever giving meaningful consent.
And this is happening to minors. Children who legally cannot open a bank account or create a social media profile without parental consent are being subjected to predictive algorithms inside the classroom.
Advocates of classroom AI say it improves safety by detecting potential threats. In tech-heavy communities like Huntsville, Alabama, some districts have adopted facial recognition and behavioral analytics to monitor students. But these programs raise urgent questions: What happens when a system flags a student incorrectly? What emotional harm comes from constant surveillance? And what precedent does this set for future generations?
We are raising children in what author Jonathan Haidt calls The Anxious Generation — a generation already plagued by rising anxiety, isolation, and digital dependence. Normalizing AI surveillance in their learning environments only exacerbates these problems. It teaches kids to perform for machines rather than relate to people. It chips away at trust between students and teachers, families and schools.
The good news? People are starting to take action.
First Lady Melania Trump has championed child protections in the digital age. She recently celebrated the signing of the Take It Down Act, legislation backed by the Trump administration to remove explicit AI-generated content involving minors from the internet. This is a critical step in the right direction.
But classroom AI poses a broader risk. We need transparency, oversight, and parental rights built into the law. I’m advocating for a model policy that any state can adopt:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A ban on emotion-detecting and behavior-predicting AI systems in schools</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Mandatory parental opt-in before AI tools can be used on students</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Transparency requirements for all EdTech vendors</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Annual AI ethics and data privacy training for school staff</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A statewide or state-level task force to assess AI impact, report findings, and recommend guardrails</li>
</ul>
Local school boards don’t need to wait for Washington or their state capitol. They can start now:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Audit every digital tool currently in use</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Inform parents</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Pause new AI adoption until clear guardrails are in place</li>
</ul>
We must ask ourselves: Are we solving real problems with AI in classrooms, or creating new ones we don’t yet understand?
This isn’t anti-technology. It’s pro-accountability. Pro-parent. Pro-child.
Whether you live in Alabama, California, or anywhere in between, your school district likely has AI embedded in ways you never imagined. It’s time to demand transparency, ask hard questions, and ensure that no child becomes a test subject for Big Tech.
Let’s make this a national conversation. Let’s protect the classroom.
* * *
Emily Jones, a North Alabama native and founder of the state’s first Moms for Liberty chapter, is running for the Alabama State School Board to restore excellence to a system in decline. Like many parents, COVID-era schooling opened her eyes to just how far our public education system has fallen—from slipping academic standards to a breakdown in trust between families and schools. With Alabama ranking 45th in the nation, we must ask: what are we doing to stop the slide? Emily is committed to rebuilding the vital partnership between parents and teachers and restoring classrooms as places where educators are empowered to teach and students are expected to thrive. It’s time to raise the bar for Alabama’s children.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Science and education concept. AI (Artificial Intelligence).

We Need Parental Consent For AI In The Classroom

Artificial Intelligence

Computer

High School

Opinion

Parental Rights in Education

Parenting

Public Schools

school district

Technology

In 2025, American students from kindergarten through law school are dumber than they’ve ever been, and we needn’t look beyond the nation’s abysmal math and English literacy <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NAEP scores</a> to prove it. Now, more than 200 California bar exam takers have had their failing scores <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/more-than-200-california-bar-exam-takers-move-from-fail-pass-after-new-scoring-adjustment?intcmp=tw_fnc&amp;taid=683e94171dc732000173e032&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">adjusted</a> to “pass,” indicating that the newest crop of California lawyers are dumber than they’ve ever been, too. What’s more, under simultaneous consideration by the state bar is a rule allowing students who registered for — but withdrew from — taking the bar exam altogether, to practice law under the supervision of “qualified” attorneys, bar exam be hanged.
Something nefarious is afoot, and its name is equity.
Public schools in Arlington, Virginia, <a href="https://ednewsva.org/arlington-public-schools-lowers-grading-standards-in-the-name-of-equity/">allow</a> students to redo assignments, turn in late work, and reduce the weight given to homework and quizzes. Georgia public schools went more than <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/georgia/articles/2022-06-10/no-a-to-f-grades-for-georgia-public-schools-for-third-year#:~:text=Georgia%20will%20go%20a%20third,of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.&amp;text=June%2010%2C%202022%2C%20at%202%3A30%20p.m.">three</a> years without assigning A-F grades to any student in the state.
Portland, Oregon public schools have <a href="https://lawenforcementtoday.com/portland-school-district-launches-initiative-to-ban-teachers-from-giving-zeros">implemented</a> grading practices that bar teachers from assigning &#8220;zeros&#8221; to students who cheat or fail to turn in assignments — a process ostensibly geared toward eliminating &#8220;racial disparities&#8221; and &#8220;inequities&#8221; in grading and instruction.
Education failures like these bear a direct relationship to “equity” — a principle geared toward equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity — and its ruinous impact on every aspect of American learning. Equitable grading for example, a concept popularized by <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/ed-magazine/19/05/grade-expectations">Joe Feldman</a>, author of the book “Grading for Equity,” seeks to replace traditional grading concepts which use measurable inputs and outcomes (like class attendance and participation, test scores, and completed assignments) with “equitable grading” techniques that rely on “accuracy,” “bias resistance,” and “motivation.” This noxious trend has replaced what little academic rigor American educational institutions do impart with practices that dumb down all students and guarantee the equivalent of academic participation trophies.
If you think that this sounds unfair, lowers the expectations of all students, or weakens academic rigor, you’d be right on all accounts. 
If you think that it might cause confusion for teachers, students, and parents, or reduce clear metrics by which students can be measured, or give students a false sense of security as they approach higher education and the workforce, you’d be right again.
Among popular “equitable grading” practices are “minimum grading” policies, which prevent teachers from assigning students less than 50% credit. Common, too, are prohibitions on grade penalties for late work and bans on grading homework and class participation. But not only do these exercises risk removing both discretion from teachers and crucial incentives for students to study hard, they dilute expectations and are nearly guaranteed to harm students they are purportedly meant to help.
Equitable grading policies are also big business, as our <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/equitable-grading-consultants/">research shows</a>.
In fact, a small research cohort yields evidence of expenditures of $9 million in American tax dollars spent on equity consultants since 2014, with California as the biggest offender. Our survey of 39 school districts across seven states in the past 11 years is proof positive that many educational institutions are more concerned with race essentialism and progressive, <a href="https://defendinged.org/resources/understanding-equitable-grading-jargon/">jargon-laden</a> social experimentation than they are with preparing their students for the real — and often intellectually challenging — world.
When activists demand “equity,” what they’re really saying is that the basic American value of color-blind equality of opportunity, with the rules applying equally to everyone, regardless of race — is itself, racist, because equality of opportunity doesn’t always produce equality of results. But “equity,” or attempting to achieve equality of results, requires the discrimination of one group over another — even though both started from the very same place, with the very same teachers, tools, resources, and tests at their disposal. “Equity” flies in the face of the Constitution’s guarantee that all Americans receive “equal protection” of the laws, with none garnering more or less.
Only <a href="https://citizensandscholars.org/resource/national-survey-finds-just-1-in-3-americans-would-pass-citizenship-test/">36%</a> of Americans can pass a multiple-choice test consisting of items from the U.S. Citizenship Test. An 8th grade <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/79470/1895-8th-grade-final-exam-i-couldnt-pass-it-could-you">final exam</a> from 1895 has stumped even the brightest of today’s scholars. As rigor falls, so do standardized test scores — hence the decision of many colleges and universities to make college applications “test-optional,” and eschew the traditionally required ACT or SAT exam scores.
State and local education institutions must focus on rigorous instruction and strong family-community ties that build trust, not on ensuring every student is pushed forward, no matter their readiness, in order to meet an unspoken social, equity-driven metric. This is how employment — and ultimately, economic — crises are made.
American students need more rigor, more discipline, more accountability, and more stringent grading systems.
And please, for Heaven’s sake, let’s get better lawyers.
* * *
Sarah Parshall Perry is vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. 
Correction: We have corrected the spelling of the word &#8220;afoot.&#8221;

Setting the page on fire with some hard work

American Students Are Dumber Than Ever, Thanks To ‘Equity’

American Students Are Dumber Than Ever, Thanks To 'Equity'

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Equity

Students

President Donald Trump said on Friday that a deal with Harvard University could be announced &#8220;over the next week or so&#8221; as the Trump administration and Ivy League school have been engaged in a months-long fight over diversity programs and antisemitism on Harvard&#8217;s campus.
The president praised Harvard for coming to the negotiating table to seek a solution for &#8220;their largescale improprieties.&#8221; Trump&#8217;s fight with Harvard started after he began stripping federal funding for the university over their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and their failure to crack down on antisemitism. The battle between Trump and Harvard intensified earlier this month when the president moved to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-unacceptable-risk-trump-signs-proclamation-to-stop-foreign-students-from-enrolling-at-harvard?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98An+Unacceptable+Risk%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+Signs+Proclamation+To+Stop+Foreign+Students+From+Enrolling+At+Harvard">stop</a> foreign students from enrolling at the university.
&#8220;Many people have been asking what is going on with Harvard University and their largescale improprieties that we have been addressing, looking for a solution,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114717387393069944">wrote</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so. They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right.&#8221;
&#8220;If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be &#8216;mindbogglingly&#8217; HISTORIC, and very good for our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221; he added.
Harvard <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-sues-to-restore-taxpayer-funding-frozen-by-trump-admin">sued</a> the Trump administration for stripping over $2 billion in federal funding, and then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-sues-after-trump-admin-blocks-university-from-admitting-foreign-students">sued again</a> over the administration&#8217;s attempt to bar foreign students from attending. Shortly before Trump&#8217;s comments on Friday, a Boston-based federal judge blocked Trump from revoking Harvard&#8217;s ability to enroll foreign students, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-harvard-foreign-students-judge-ruling/#">reported</a>.
Last month, Trump suggested that Harvard cap its foreign student enrollment at 15% of the student body, which would be a drop from the nearly 30% of the student body represented by international students. He added that he wants Harvard to &#8220;show us their lists,&#8221; so that the Trump administration can &#8220;make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to see shopping centers exploding. We don&#8217;t want to see the kind of riots that you had,&#8221; Trump said.
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-state-dept-measures-unveiled-how-foreign-students-will-be-screened-for-u-s-entry">reported</a> that the State Department unveiled new measures for screening foreign students on Wednesday, including searching the social media accounts of students for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States,” “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security,” and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”
“Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the State Department said. “The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.”

Donald Trump

Trump Teases ‘Mindbogglingly Historic’ Deal With Harvard: ‘They Have Acted Extremely Appropriately’

antisemitism

foreign students

Harvard

Politics

State Department

The State Department will resume granting student visas, but with heightened social media protocols to monitor possible support for terrorism or &#8220;a history of political activism&#8221; associated with violence or anti-American views. 
The department announced Wednesday that it would soon start scheduling student visa application interviews after all new applications were frozen last month. Potential exchange students will be asked to make their social media profiles public to allow for vetting. 
“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security,” the department said. “Under new guidance, we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants.”
The Trump administration has expressed concern about foreign students who have engaged in disruptive anti-Israel protests at campuses across the country, as well as Chinese students connected to the Chinese Communist Party. 
“Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the State Department said. “The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.”
A cable to American diplomats <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/18/social-media-screening-student-visas-00413160" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a> by POLITICO revealed that they were instructed to search the social media accounts of students for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States,” “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security” and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”
One specific terrorist group they were urged to watch out for was Hamas.
The diplomats were also told to determine if “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism” associated with violence and asked to “consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States.”
The cable added that the diplomats should “take screenshots to preserve the record against possible later alteration or loss of the information.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the United States does not want to import anti-American activists to disrupt and undermine the education system.
The resumption of student visa application interviews comes after President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unveils-terms-of-done-trade-deal-with-china">announced</a> last week that the United States would continue to allow Chinese students into the country as part of a trade deal. That came after Rubio said that he would aggressively revoke the student visas of Chinese students, especially those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

US-KAZAKHSTAN-DIPLOMACY-RUBIO-NURTLEU

New State Dept Measures Unveiled: How Foreign Students Will Be Screened For U.S. Entry

Communist China

Marco Rubio

The &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill,&#8221; backed by President Donald Trump, fulfills one of Republicans&#8217; most provocative promises: to tax universities with massive endowments. The tax would help reduce the United States deficit by taxing multibillion dollar institutions of privilege as if they were hedge funds with classrooms attached — which critics say institutions like Harvard are.
The version of the bill passed by the House would institute hefty taxes on &#8220;net investment income&#8221; for universities with the largest endowments, topping out at 21% for colleges with endowments equivalent to more than $2 million per student. Colleges with endowments less than $500,000 per student wouldn&#8217;t be taxed, while those with endowments between $500,000 and $750,000 per student would be taxed 1.4%, with two other rates in between.
But the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text">language</a> is not just designed to punish colleges that Republicans say have become liberal political organizations; it is written in a way that could benefit Americans by significantly increasing the slots available at high-level universities for citizens, rather than foreigners.
The calculation of endowment per student counts only students from the United States. So, one of the ways colleges can avoid taxes is by ensuring that more of their slots go to Americans. If a college has a $1 billion endowment and 1,000 students, that works out to $1 million per student, which would fall under a 7% tax rate. But if half of those students are foreigners, the rate would actually be based on dividing $1 billion by 500 students, resulting in a $2 million figure — and a much higher tax rate.
In some ways, the massive flow of foreigners to American colleges mirrors the surge in immigrants crossing the southern border. According to <a href="https://opendoorsdata.org/annual-release/international-students/">Open Doors</a>, which tracks international scholarship, more than 1.1 million foreigners studied at American colleges in the 2023-24 school year, up 7% from the previous year. The number of foreign graduate students was at &#8220;an all-time high,&#8221; it said, at 500,000. Most of the students came from India and China, and the highest growth rate came from sub-Saharan Africa.
The group said New York University had more than 27,000 international students, while Northeastern University had 21,000 and Columbia had 20,000. According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/data/how-many-foreign-students-are-every-us-college-2025-05-22/">Reuters</a>, 42% of students at Carnegie Mellon were foreign, while the rate was 39% at Northeastern and Columbia, and 34% at NYU.
Universities say they prefer to admit foreign students because they are often wealthy people paying full tuition, and their progressive tuition model relies on charging high prices for some to subsidize financial aid for poor people.
But Republicans say that makes it more difficult for Americans to gain admittance to American schools at all, and that colleges get preferential tax treatment and significant government funding on the premise that they are educating American taxpayers.
Open Doors said that 55% of the foreign students pay for school using foreign money, typically from their family, while 41% are funded with money from the United States. In half of those cases, the money comes from the colleges, often through &#8220;federal government research grants disbursed to the student through the institution,&#8221; it said.
Republicans also say using American universities to train and conduct research by foreigners poses national security concerns. A common way that people begin residing illegally in the country is by coming on a student visa, and then never leaving when it expires. Mohammad K. Dabous of Jordan, for example, was arrested for allegedly ramming a truck through the gates of the Quantico military base after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-who-tried-to-infiltrate-quantico-was-let-into-country-to-attend-u-s-college">overstaying a student visa</a>.
Giving foreigners, instead of Americans, a significant number of slots at elite institutions also leads to the argument that we need high immigration to staff the country with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-h1-b-jobs-that-prove-the-visa-program-badly-needs-reform">doctors and engineers</a>, because there aren&#8217;t enough Americans with the necessary training.
The percentage of foreign students at some universities has become so high that instead of the American way of life rubbing off on a few visitors, antisemitism and third-world blood feuds have become a part of a dominant culture. Columbia, with its sizable international population, was at the epicenter of anti-Israel and anti-Western unrest, with Muslim immigrants radicalizing privileged Western leftists.
The &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill,&#8221; which awaits passage by the Senate, would also overhaul how student loans are administered, forcing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-the-big-beautiful-bill-sticks-it-to-universities-that-churn-out-unemployed-debtors">colleges to eat the costs of bad bets when students can&#8217;t pay their loans</a>—in turn putting pressure on colleges to lower tuition, admit only qualified students, and deemphasize useless majors.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/george-washington-university-antisemitism-lawsuit">U.S. Diplomat Training Ground Let Antisemites Take Over Its Faculty, Lawsuit Says</a>

Pro Palestine Columbia students continue occupation of campus

How The Big Beautiful Bill Would Push Colleges To Educate Americans, Not Foreigners

Taxes

Universities

Tennessee challenged the Department of Education on Wednesday over a program that offers specific funding only to schools composed of at least 25% Hispanic students, arguing that the initiative is unconstitutional.
Joined by the organization Students for Fair Admissions, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti <a href="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2025/2025-6-hsi.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> the Education Department over its Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) program, which gives financial aid to institutions that have at least 25% Hispanic enrollment. In the suit, Skrmetti argues that the racial requirements of the program are arbitrary and violate federal law.
“The Department of Education cannot discriminate based on race or ethnicity — even when Congress orders it to. Yet under the Higher Education Act, the Department awards grants to colleges and universities only if they enroll a certain number of Hispanic students,” the suit says.
The lawsuit took aim at several aspects of the program, including the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant <a href="https://www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-special-populations/grants-hispanic-students/developing-hispanic-serving-institutions-program--title-v#:~:text=The%20Developing%20Hispanic%2DServing%20Institutions,program%20quality%2C%20and%20institutional%20stability." target="_blank" rel="noopener">opportunity</a> and the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans <a href="https://www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-special-populations/grants-hispanic-students/promoting-postbaccalaureate-opportunities-for-hispanic-americans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initiative</a>. Both of these programs, Skrmetti argues, violate federal law because of their racial component.
The suit notes that no college in Tennessee qualifies as “Hispanic-Serving” because none have at least 25% Hispanic enrollment, even though some institutions, like the University of Memphis, have a high percentage of minority enrollment.
“The State of Tennessee operates many colleges and universities. Every one of them serves Hispanic students. Every one of them serves low-income students. But not one of them qualifies to receive grants under the HSI program. Why? Because they don’t have the right mix of ethnicities on campus,” the lawsuit says, noting that the 25% number was an &#8220;arbitrary ethnic threshold.&#8221;
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Skrmetti said that the grant program was un-American and unconstitutional, and violated the recent Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-issues-landmark-ruling-on-affirmative-action-at-universities">decision</a> to overturn affirmative action in admissions in Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
“Treating people differently because of their skin color and ancestry drags our country backwards. The HSI program perversely deprives even needy Hispanic students of the benefits of this funding if they attend institutions that don’t meet the government’s arbitrary quota,” he said.
The Trump administration has pushed to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates from the federal government and cut grants for organizations that promote racial ideologies. In January, President Donald Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/">executive order</a> directing his administration to ensure that any educational facility receiving federal dollars complied with the Students for Fair Admissions decision.

US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-EDUCATION-MCMAHON

Red State Sues Education Department Over ‘Arbitrary’ Racial Grant Program

Affirmative Action

Tennessee

U.S.

School districts across the country spent more than $9 million on equity consultants since 2014, with California as the biggest offender, according to a new report.
A total of 39 school districts across seven states spent $9,028,000 on consultants for equitable grading in the past 11 years, according to a new <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/equitable-grading-consultants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Defending Education.
Equitable grading is &#8220;a popular grading framework that seeks to address &#8216;inequities&#8217; and &#8216;bias&#8217; in education,&#8221; Defending Education said.
&#8220;It is rooted in the belief that all inequitable outcomes are the result of implicit and systemic bias (for example, white supremacy) and creates barriers to success for minority and low-income students,&#8221; the group said.
California was responsible for the bulk of the spending — the Golden State shelled out a total of $7,733,000 for consultants that included equitable grading guidance.
One California district alone spent more than $4 million.
Modesto City Schools paid Creative Leadership Solutions and California Education Partners $4,297,000 since 2022 for professional development that included equitable grading practices, according to the report.
Of Modesto&#8217;s spending, about $3,937,000 came from federal funds, Defending Education&#8217;s report said.
The report counted $4,561,000 in total federal funds spent on equitable grading consultants.
One firm, Crescendo Education Group, consulted for at least 26 California school districts, including Los Angeles, as well as districts in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Mexico.
<div>
“There are serious concerns about consistency in K–12 grading practices — and unfortunately, equitable grading is the latest feel-good education fad to gain traction,&#8221; Rhyen Staley, Researcher for Defending Education said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;This grading philosophy reflects far-left ideological biases while discriminating against merit-based behaviors that are proven to lead to success. Discouraging hard work and meritocracy harms all students — but it’s especially damaging to the lowest performers,” Staley said.
Liberal public school advocates often <a href="https://parents4publicschools.org/when-schools-are-underfunded-children-suffer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argue</a> that school districts are underfunded, especially those in urban areas. However, the report shows that large school districts in blue cities paid big money for equitable grading consulting,
New Mexico was the second-biggest spender in the report, with Albuquerque Public Schools spending nearly $600,000 on consulting that included equitable grading.
Chicago Public Schools spent just under $180,000, and Boston Public Schools spent more than $102,000.
Other major school districts that forked over consulting fees included Connecticut&#8217;s New Haven Public Schools and Ohio&#8217;s Springfield City School District.
While school districts have been spending taxpayer dollars on how to make their grading practices more &#8220;equitable,&#8221; American children&#8217;s grades have sloped downward in recent years.
Reading and math scores plummeted during the COVID pandemic. Parents and teachers hoped kids would learn more quickly to catch up after remote learning ended, but those hopes have not been realized.
As of last year, four years after the pandemic hit, students continued to decline in reading and made little improvement in math, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/naep-test-scores-nations-report-card-school-60150156e41b8518be3b6eabf77d0c66" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the national exam known as the Nation’s Report Card.
</div>

Education Funding Concept

EXCLUSIVE: School Districts Spent More Than $9 Million To Make Grading Practices More ‘Equitable’

School Districts Spent Over $9 Million On Equitable Grading Consultants

With Governor Kelly Ayotte’s signature on Tuesday, New Hampshire became the first state in the Northeast and the 17th state in the nation to enact universal school choice. New Hampshire joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in empowering all parents statewide with a portion of their children’s education funding to select the K-12 education avenue of their choice.
Previously, New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program, which began in 2021, was restricted to only families meeting a certain household income threshold. However, during this legislative session, the state House and the Senate took up separate bills to make all students eligible for the program. On March 13, <a href="https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2025&amp;id=67&amp;txtFormat=html">House Bill 115</a> passed the House by a vote of <a href="https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB115/2025">198-180</a>, and <a href="https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2025&amp;id=965&amp;txtFormat=html">Senate Bill 295</a> passed the Senate by a vote of <a href="https://legiscan.com/NH/votes/SB295/2025">16-8</a>.
After several more legislative steps, including moving through the House and Senate Finance Committees and adoption into the state’s budget, Senate Bill 295 successfully passed out of the legislature on June 5.
There was great confidence that Gov. Ayotte would deliver by signing the bill into law. In her Inaugural Address in January, she <a href="https://www.governor.nh.gov/news/governor-kelly-ayottes-inaugural-address">stated</a>: “As a mother, I understand that every child learns differently and that we should give each child the opportunity to be in the education setting that allows them to reach his or her full potential.”
The governor <a href="https://www.governor.nh.gov/news/governor-kelly-ayottes-inaugural-address">continued</a>: “Public Schools are critical, and I am the proud product of Nashua’s public schools, but they are not working for every child. I applaud the work the legislature has done to expand opportunities for families through education freedom accounts and look forward to strengthening and expanding this program to ensure more families have the freedom to put their children in the learning environment that is best for them.”
The Education Freedom Account funds can be used for private school tuition, tutoring, career and technical education, homeschooling curriculum, and other educational expenses. While the eligibility becomes universal, students from low-income households, students with disabilities, and students and their siblings currently enrolled in the Education Freedom Account program are prioritized.
For the current school year, approximately <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/education-freedom-account-program/">5,600</a> students participated, with an average award of <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/education-freedom-account-program/">$5,100 per student</a>. This is a mere fraction of the <a href="https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-documents/sonh/cost-per-pupil-fy2024-excluding-newfound.pdf">$26,320</a> that is spent to educate a public school student each year in New Hampshire.
While the funding is significantly less, there is greater accountability for how Education Freedom Account (EFA) funds are used. New Hampshire <a href="https://www.nhhousegop.com/press-releases/republicans-make-the-wildly-successful-education-freedom-accounts-universal/">State Representative Valerie McDonnell (R-Salem)</a> explains, “Every single EFA dollar is audited and publicly available. While local school budgets continue to grow and grow, the EFA program has saved the taxpayers over $266 million in the last five years. Expanding EFAs means more educational opportunities, greater accountability, and stronger outcomes for students.”
According to <a href="https://nhjournal.com/bedrick-finally-fulfilling-the-promise-of-public-education/?mkt_tok=ODI0LU1IVC0zMDQAAAGa32t7I1dLF9OyZxlQsR4nlr3M0SnLmTqfsUK6Kp4YjIQ80fxyO5a4NtQ3VQo18r-FkHASXhC1lfqaA_NBTKI-8Rc-VWzPF4rj7Up6HibL-vTwFV8-Dw">Jason Bedrick</a>, New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program “cost about $27 million last year, which is only about 0.7% of the nearly $4 billion spent on New Hampshire’s public schools.”
A new study from the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy <a href="https://jbartlett.org/2025/06/per-pupil-spending-in-nh-nearly-doubles-from-2001-2024-as-district-public-schools-spend-1-25-billion-more-on-54000-fewer-students/">found</a> that New Hampshire public school spending increased $1.25 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2001 and 2024. That’s a staggering 45% despite student enrollment decreasing 26% over the same time period. The increase in spending, combined with the sharp decline in enrollment, resulted in a 96% increase in inflation-adjusted spending.
The nearly doubling of spending did not have a positive impact on student learning. Instead, student learning fell significantly. Student achievement results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam scores for reading and math <a href="https://jbartlett.org/2025/06/per-pupil-spending-in-nh-nearly-doubles-from-2001-2024-as-district-public-schools-spend-1-25-billion-more-on-54000-fewer-students/">dropped by 21 points</a>. New Hampshire’s student decline was three times that of the national average 7-point score decrease.
The lack of return on investment in the astronomically expensive and inefficient public school monopoly adds to the numerous compelling reasons to empower parents with school choice for their children.
While unfathomable just a few years ago, historic education freedom is becoming a reality, state by state and with great speed. New Hampshire is the sixth state in 2025 to enact universal school choice.
The template has been set for the remaining 33 states yet to grant all parents school choice for the thirteen most formative years of their children’s lives. Which state will be next?
* * *
<a href="https://www.discovery.org/p/ingraham/">Dr. Keri D. Ingraham</a> is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Group of school school kids running as they leave the school building

‘Live Free Or Die’ State Becomes First Universal School Choice State In The Northeast

Kelly Ayotte

New Hampshire

School Choice

The “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” backed by President Donald Trump and awaiting passage in the Senate, would revolutionize how colleges distribute student loans, disincentivizing schools from saddling students with debt for degrees that don’t lead to employment.
The move would not just provoke left-wing colleges that have been a thorn in Republicans’ side, but also provide a practical, good-governance change that could save taxpayers billions and prevent people from being saddled with student loan payments they can&#8217;t afford.
Under the bill, colleges will have “skin in the game,” meaning if they churn out dropouts or graduates with a particular major who can&#8217;t afford to pay their student loans, the college will have to eat those costs. That makes it in their interest to discourage people from going into debt for programs in useless or low-quality fields, admitting students who are unlikely to be able to complete a useful program, or charging such high tuition that the increase in earnings isn&#8217;t worth it.
Colleges will no longer be able to admit an endless stream of people who take $150,000 in student loans for a gender studies degree when half of them default on their loans and stick taxpayers with the bill. Schools will have to reimburse the federal government for missed loan payments based on the percentage in a “program of study,” meaning a major within a particular school, who drop out or don’t see increased earnings based on the degree.
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A “value-added earnings” amount is calculated for graduates of each program based on their median salary four years after completing an undergraduate or doctoral degree, or two years after an associate’s or master’s degree. It looks at how much higher that salary is than 150% of the poverty level for those with undergraduate degrees, or 300% of the poverty level for people with graduate credentials. The number is further adjusted based on the cost-of-living in the metro area of the university, even though graduates may not be working in that region.
How much money schools have to repay is based on the relationship between total tuition cost and value-added earnings. Divide the median value-add by median cost of attendance. That&#8217;s the percentage of missed principal and interest payments that taxpayers will eat. Colleges must reimburse the government for the rest.
Let’s say a class of students spends four years earning degrees in critical race theory, with tuition of $50,000 a year, totaling of $200,000. Four years after that, at 26 years old, they are making a median of $30,000 in their jobs. The poverty level is $15,650, so college graduates should be expected to make more than 150% of that, or $23,475. That means the CRT program has value-added earnings of $6,525. Divide that by the cost of attendance, and you get 3%. When those graduates failed to make loan repayments, the colleges would have to eat 97% of the revenue that would otherwise be lost by taxpayers.
Left-wing colleges have also put taxpayers and impoverished young people at risk by lowering admissions standards — often in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion — to the point where huge portions of those admitted aren&#8217;t capable of college-level work and wind up dropping out. Then, they default on their loans since they incur costs but do not earn a degree.
The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text">Big Beautiful Bill</a> would force colleges to own the results of their admissions decisions, with a separate reimbursement rate for missed student loan payments by people who dropped out of a given academic program. Colleges would have to reimburse the government for dropouts&#8217; missed loan repayments based on the percentage of community college students who didn&#8217;t graduate in six years, and other students who didn&#8217;t complete the program within 150% of its expected time.
Let&#8217;s say a disreputable college is admitting people with abysmal math SAT scores, and using them as cash cows to pay reams of administrators and faculty who claim they&#8217;re making math majors out of them. All of the students are impoverished and pay tuition using student loans, and six years later, only half of them actually graduated. The other half defaulted on their student loans, missing a combined million dollars in payments per year. The school would have to reimburse the federal government for half of that amount, or $500,000.
The bill&#8217;s education provisions are aimed not just at mitigating taxpayers&#8217; losses, but correcting the root cause: colleges should not admit people who are likely to drop out, and they should not encourage people to take on debt to major in things like art history. If they do offer majors that don&#8217;t lead to gainful employment, they can protect their bottom line by making sure tuition is low, making it easier to hit the required ratio.
The rates are calculated only based on people who take student loans, so if people really want to major in dance, knowing that most of them won&#8217;t make money, they can do so if they pay using private sources of funding. Colleges are also empowered to protect themselves the same way banks do when making an investment they know is risky, by limiting the amount of student loans people can use for particular majors.
The bill also stops students from taking out huge amounts of student loans. That comes after President Joe Biden waived billions of dollars in loan repayments, even though a court told him he didn’t have the authority. Democrats pushed the initiative by highlighting the sob stories of people who had hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, and whose lives have been ruined as a result.
Republicans say the best policy solution is making sure people never get in that situation to begin with. The bill caps lifetime federal student loans to $200,000, plus $50,000 in federal loans in a parent&#8217;s name. That will provide a strong disincentive for colleges to raise tuition, because they would lose out on many prospective customers if they do.
It also prevents the president from using executive orders or regulations that “would result in an increase in a subsidy cost.” Typically, when Democrats have tried to make college more affordable by subsidizing more of the cost, colleges simply raise tuition by that amount and pocket the proceeds.
&#8220;Colleges should have a stake in their students’ success and be responsible for reimbursing taxpayers for a portion of their losses if students don’t see financial value from enrolling in an institution and can’t repay,&#8221; Republicans on the House Committee on Education and Workforce said.
&#8220;Students, families, and the federal government pay tens, sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars in tuition while many degrees offer students no additional value but leave graduates with debt. Too many are left worse off than if they never enrolled in the first place.&#8221;

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Here’s How The Big Beautiful Bill Sticks It To Universities That Churn Out Unemployed Debtors

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