Education | The Georgia Star News

Biden Cancels Another $1.2 Billion in Student Loan Debt

February 24, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

In yet another move circumventing the Supreme Court on the question of student loan debt, Joe Biden announced the cancellation of approximately $1.2 billion in student loan debt for about 153,000 borrowers.

As reported by ABC News, the Biden Administration made the cancellation official on Wednesday, including a draft email that will be sent to all of the borrowers in question. The email will read, in part: “Congratulations — all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven because you qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administration’s SAVE Plan.”

Red States Considering Sex Ed Bills That Would Require Students to Watch Pro-Life Video

February 23, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Multiple legislatures are considering bills that would require students to watch a video of an infant’s development in the womb as part of their sex education.

Live Action, a pro-life activist organization, created a three-minute video, which shows an animated infant named Olivia go through the developmental process from conception to full term at nine months. Bills have been proposed in Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia to include an animation “comparable” to the Live Action video for students from high school to as young as third grade.

Denver Schools Facing ‘Unprecedented Challenge’ with Influx of Migrant Students

February 22, 2024 The Center Square

Denver’s public school system has been taking in as many as 250 new students a week since the new year, which it attributes to the increase in the number of migrants arriving in the city.

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero called the situation an “unprecedented challenge” in a message to the community posted on the district’s website. The district said the influx of new students will cost an additional $837,000 “to support additional needs across the system.”

Commentary: Chronically Absent Students Need an Alternative

February 19, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

It’s no secret that chronic absenteeism has skyrocketed since the pandemic. As The 74s Linda Jacobson writes, a new analysis of federal data released in late 2023 shows the problem may be even worse than previously understood.

The report from Johns Hopkins University shows that two out of three students were enrolled in schools with high or extreme chronic absenteeism rates during the 2021-22 school year—more than double the rate in 2017-18. (Students who miss at least 10% of the school year, or roughly 18 days, are considered chronically absent.)

School District Allows LGBTQ Lesson Opt-Outs After Legal Threat by Muslim Parents

February 19, 2024 Just the News

Christian, Jewish and Muslim families in suburban D.C. are waiting for a federal appeals court to determine whether their school district can continue requiring their children to read LGBTQ “storybooks” without parental knowledge or consent.

Eleven hundred miles away in a similarly blue jurisdiction led by the United States’ first known Somali-American mayor, Muslim immigrant families who escaped a war-torn country didn’t have to go to court to have their parental rights honored.

Elite Colleges Reconsidering SAT Score Requirements

February 18, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Several elite universities are considering reversing recent decisions to reduce or even eliminate requirements for application that include standardized test scores such as the SAT exams.

According to Axios, multiple colleges used the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to weaken the importance of SAT and ACT test scores in most student applications. But in recent weeks, several schools have reversed course; Yale is considering repealing its prior policy of making SAT/ACT requirements optional, with Dartmouth already reinstating the requirements earlier this month. MIT reversed a similar policy back in 2022.

Los Angeles Private School Forced to Close Due to Homelessness and Drug Use

February 18, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

A private school in Los Angeles was forced to close due to rising safety concerns as a result of the homeless and drug-abusing population in the vicinity.

As Fox News reports, the circumstances of the closure are detailed in a lawsuit filed by Dana Hammond, the founder of the Academy of Media Arts. Hammond claims that the city’s failure to adequately protect the school from vagrants constituted a breach of contract with the building that hosted the school.

Commentary: Homeschooling Isn’t What I Expected It to Be

February 18, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

I’ve heard it said, “I was a great parent before I had kids.” The same can be said of being a homeschooling parent.

Homeschooling circles are full of idealistic moms and dads who often have very high standards for themselves and their children. Certainly, having strong ideals can work as a guide and benchmark for navigating what can be a very challenging endeavor. However, these high standards can also backfire and leave even the best of us feeling like failures.

Yet Another Harvard University Official Accused of Plagiarism

February 14, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

An administrator of the Harvard Extension School (HES) was accused of plagiarism in an anonymous complaint sent to the school Friday, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Shirley Greene, an HES administrator who handles Title IX compliance, was accused of 42 instances of plagiarism in her 2008 dissertation, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by the Crimson. The allegations mark the latest plagiarism scandal to hit the university after a string of allegations against high-ranking university faculty members, including former Harvard President Claudine Gay.

Teacher Who Exposed School’s ‘Woke Kindergarten’ Program Put on Leave

February 12, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

The San Francisco-area elementary school whose test scores dropped following implementation of the so-called “Woke Kindergarten” program suspended the teacher who exposed the controversial program.

On Thursday, the teacher who blew the whistle on the program was “summoned […] to a video conference” during which he was told to “turn in his keys and laptop and not return to his classroom […] until further notice,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bill Ackman on Washington Post Hit Piece: ‘The Public Has Been Again Misled’

February 11, 2024 Michael Patrick Leahy

Bill Ackman, the highly successful investor and Harvard graduate whose criticism of Claudine Gay’s history of plagiarism led to her resignation as President of Harvard University, published a lengthy tweet on his X account Saturday evening responding to an article about him published by The Washington Post earlier in the day, “How a liberal billionaire became America’s leading anti-DEI crusader.”

Report: College Free Speech Codes Mostly ‘Yellow Lights’

February 6, 2024 The Center Square

Although public colleges and universities operate under First Amendment guidelines and many private schools pledge to uphold the principles of free speech, a new report says most still enforce policies that restrict it in some way.

After reviewing the policies of 489 of America’s top colleges and universities, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, has released its Spotlight on Speech Codes 2024. The schools earned red, yellow, or green light ratings based on the extent to which their written regulations threaten free speech.

Commentary: School Choice Keeps Spreading

February 1, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

In just three years, the number of states with universal or near-universal private school choice programs has grown from zero to 10, and the number of students eligible for these programs has increased by 60%. According to the latest ABCs of School Choice – EdChoice’s comprehensive report about all matters pertaining to educational freedom—32 states (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico) are using school choice as of 2023. Additionally, policymakers in 40 states debated 111 educational choice bills last year alone. Overall, approximately 20 million students—or 36% of all kids—are now eligible for some kind of private-choice program.

But what’s good for children and their families is problematic for the teachers’ unions and their fellow travelers. As such, on January 22—not coincidentally the beginning of National School Choice Week—the Partnership for the Future of Learning released a toolkit, maintaining that “voucher programs are “deeply rooted in segregation, racism, and discrimination.” The PFL, which is comprised of predominantly left-wing outfits—the National Education Association, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Learning Policy Institute, etc.—adds that private schools “do not have necessary accountability measures.”

‘Did Not Align with Our Mission’: Catholic University Fires Professor Who Brought in ‘Abortion Doula’

January 31, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Catholic University confirmed to The Daily Signal that it has terminated the contract of the professor who invited a self-declared “abortion doula” to speak to students about coaching women through abortions and “pregnant men” through a “seahorse birth.”

Catholic University President Peter Kilpatrick announced to students on Jan. 30 that the university “terminated our contract with the professor who invited the speaker” after obtaining “clear evidence that the content of the class did not align with our mission and identity.”

Harvard’s ‘Diversity’ Chief Accused of over 40 Instances of Plagiarism

January 31, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Harvard University’s chief diversity and inclusion officer allegedly plagiarized some of her academic works, according to a complaint filed Monday with the university.

The complaint alleged that Sherri Charleston plagiarized 40 passages throughout her works, including in her 2009 dissertation and her single peer-reviewed paper, The Washington Free Beacon first reported. Charleston allegedly did not properly cite almost a dozen scholars when quoting or paraphrasing in her dissertation, and she is accused of re-using a portion of a 2012 study published by her husband, LaVar Charleston, in the peer-reviewed article, which was coauthored by LaVar, according to the complaint.

Science Won’t Stop Rhode Island from Resuming Mask Mandate on Kids: Proposed Regulation

January 31, 2024 Just the News

Rhode Island convinced parents last month to drop their 2021 lawsuit against its gone-but-not-forgotten COVID-19 mask mandates in schools by pledging to hold public hearings should it seek to reimpose them.

Now the Ocean State is proposing a health regulation under which it could force kids to mask up again without justifying it through scientific evidence, allegedly violating the dismissal stipulation that ended the case Dec. 13.

Heritage Foundation Offers ‘Training Academy’ for Judicial Clerks

January 30, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

A conservative think tank will continue its annual “training academy” for judicial clerks this spring.

The Heritage Foundation’s Judicial Clerkship Training Academy will run from March 20-22. Attendees, often law students or recent graduates, will have an opportunity to hear from federal judges, law professors, and former clerks.

‘Seahorse Births’: Abortion Doula Normalizes ‘Pregnant Men’ Giving Birth in Lecture to Catholic University Students

January 28, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

A self-declared “abortion doula” spoke this week to Catholic University of America students about her experiences coaching women through delivering or aborting babies, as well as coaching “pregnant men” to deliver in what she called a “seahorse birth,” according to audio of the class lecture obtained by The Daily Signal.

A Catholic University nursing student described Tuesday’s lecture to The Daily Signal, saying the guest speaker said she also practices Reiki, a controversial Japanese method of spiritual healing and self-improvement.

Commentary: Dual Enrollment Is a Homeschool Resource

January 28, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

This year marks the completion of high school for two of my children. Navigating the high school years has been both exciting and challenging. By the time our children had reached high school age, two things were apparent. First, homeschooling had allowed my kids to find and pursue their special interests—ones that had future career potential.

Second, while mastery of most subjects had been relatively easy, math and science were a bit more difficult. Despite overall higher testing outcomes within the homeschool community, there is a documented math gap for many homeschoolers. In other words, most homeschoolers score slightly lower than their non-homeschooled peers in math and science. (This is understandable, of course: I don’t know many mothers qualified to teach high-level math or science, and most of us don’t want our kitchens being turned into chemistry labs.)

Commentary: Public Education’s Alarming Reversal of Learning Trend

January 24, 2024 RealClearWire

Call it the big reset – downward – in public education.

The alarming plunge in academic performance during the pandemic was met with a significant drop in grading and graduation standards to ease the pressure on students struggling with remote learning. The hope was that hundreds of billions of dollars of emergency federal aid would enable schools to reverse the learning loss and restore the standards.

SHOCK POLL: Nearly 90 Percent of Ivy League Grads Support ‘Strict’ Rationing of Gas, Meat, Electricity to ‘Fight Climate Change’

January 23, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Nearly 90 percent of Ivy League graduates support the “strict” rationing of gas, meat and electricity to fight climate change, according to a new poll.

The conservative Committee to Unleash Prosperity, in a survey that sought to measure the beliefs of “elites,” stated the findings reveal climate change “is clearly an obsession of the very rich and highly educated.”

Commentary: This National School Choice Week, Let’s Celebrate Return to Founding Principles

January 23, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

The school choice policies sweeping the nation may be among the most innovative—and promising—enacted in recent memory. Yet they also embody a return to principles first enshrined in American law nearly 400 years ago.

In 1642, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony crafted the nation’s first education law, its objective was clear: Parents must educate their children.

Harvard Medical School Affiliate Looks to Retract Multiple Studies, Correct Papers

January 23, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

A Harvard Medical School affiliate is planning to retract six studies and correct 31 papers due to an ongoing investigation into several senior cancer researchers and administrators, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The investigation involves more than 50 papers, four of which are co-authored by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute CEO and President Dr. Laurie Glimcher, according to the WSJ. The institute has not determined whether research misconduct occurred, although several requests for retractions and corrections have been sent to journals.

Harvard Details Handling of Claudine Gay Plagiarism Controversy in New Congressional Report

January 21, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Harvard University detailed its handling of the controversy surrounding former President Claudine Gay’s alleged plagiarism in a new report submitted to Congress on Friday.

Harvard’s report, which was submitted to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, details how a university subcommittee appointed an independent panel of “three of the country’s most prominent political scientists” that found “virtually no evidence of intentional claiming of findings that are not President Gay’s.” The independent panel did not review all accusations of plagiarism against Gay, only the 25 allegations flagged by the New York Post, 16 of which the panel said were “trivial,” used “commonly used language” or regarded a previous publication that “they devoted ‘less attention.’”

Commentary: Inflated Grades, Increasing Graduation Rates, and Deflated Test Scores

January 21, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Grade inflation is rampant and has been so for many years. Back in 2011, an in-depth study by three Ivy League economists looked at how the quality of individual teachers affects their students over the long term. The paper, by Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia, tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years and, using a value-added approach, found that teachers who help students raise their standardized test scores have a lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage pregnancy rates, greater college matriculation, and higher adult earnings. The authors of the study define “value added” as the average test-score gain for a teacher’s students “…adjusted for differences across classrooms in student characteristics such as prior scores.”

But to those who believe in equity über alles, quality is an afterthought, and many states are ditching any objective criteria for entry into the teaching field. In California, teachers traditionally have had to pass the ridiculously easy California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) to gain entry into the profession, but the test is now under fire.

Commentary: Education Freedom Is Georgia’s Top Priority

January 20, 2024January 23, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

In his recent State of the State address, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp strongly endorsed Georgia’s education freedom legislation, which offers disadvantaged Georgians the same quality education as everyone else. “Our job is not to decide for every family but to support them in making the best [education] choice for their child,” said Kemp. “That is what we were elected to do.”

Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, establishes education freedom accounts (EFAs) of $6,500 annually for families who choose better education alternatives. Eligibility is limited to families whose children attend the worst 25% of schools statewide. Parents can use the funds for any educational expense, including tuition, fees, books, tutoring, and transportation. This bill should be the legislature’s top priority in 2024.

Georgia Universities Rebrand, Rename Diversity Efforts in Wake of New Anti-DEI Regulations

January 16, 2024January 16, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

As Georgia universities respond to new anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion regulations in the state, at least one outspoken scholar argues the efforts are not actually eliminating DEI.

The University System of Georgia in 2023 banned the use of DEI statements for hiring, and colleges and universities in the state were also told to discontinue the use of DEI terminology in teaching training standards.

Watchdog Files Accreditation Complaint Against Harvard over Plagiarism Scandal

January 16, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

A higher education watchdog group has filed a complaint with the organization that accredits Harvard University over campus leaders’ probe into plagiarism accusations against former President Claudine Gay.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) filed a 12-page complaint with the New England Commission of Higher Education that calls on the group to launch a probe into “Harvard’s apparent violation of its own established procedures in the investigation of the alleged plagiarism committed by Dr. Gay,” ACTA stated in a Jan. 12 news release.

Billionaire CEO Announces Plagiarism Probe Targeting MIT, and Beyond

January 8, 2024 Admin

Hedge fund founder Bill Ackman announced on Friday he would launch an AI plagiarism review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s faculty and leaders with possible plans to extend the probe to other elite universities.

Georgia Republicans Who Killed School Choice Legislation in 2023 May Stop Reforms Again

January 8, 2024 Tom Pappert

A group of Republicans in the Georgia State House who were responsible to killing a 2023 effort to increase school choice in the state will reportedly work to stymie the education reforms again in 2024, according to a Friday report.

In 2023, Republicans in the Georgia Senate successfully passed Senate Bill 233, which would have granted state funded vouchers of up to $6,500 for students in the bottom 25 percent of the state’s schools. The funding would have been removed from public schools at the same time, which rural Republicans claimed was unfair to students that did not leave the struggling schools.

Commentary: Educational Collapse and the Definition of Truth

January 7, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

It’s no secret that America’s students are struggling. The latest Nation’s Report Cards have not been flattering, with average scores in both math and reading declining over recent years.

It’s also no secret that pandemic restrictions have only exacerbated the learning decline in the U.S. However, scores have been falling since before the pandemic, signaling that there are more systemic problems holding back young people. In fact, this educational decline comes from a deeper philosophical brokenness about the notion of truth itself.

‘I Actually Feel Quite Valued’: Mentorship Program Works to Retain New Teachers

January 6, 2024January 7, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Jack Fredericks is investing in new teachers because he wants to help them stay in the classroom for the long haul.

He serves as the program coordinator for the new teacher mentorship program in the West Tallahatchie School District, something he worked with his superintendent to create after researching mentorship as a Teach Plus Mississippi policy fellow.

Commentary: Claudine Gay’s Resignation Is Not the End of the University of Harvard’s Dilemma

January 5, 2024 Georgia Star News Staff

Harvard may assume the forced resignation of its president, Claudine Gay, has finally ended its month-long scandal over her tenure.

Gay stepped down, remember, amid serious allegations of serial plagiarism—without refuting the charges. She proved either unable or unwilling to discipline those on her campus who were defiantly anti-Semitic in speech and action.

Biden’s Electric School Bus Program Faces the Daunting Challenge of Inadequate Utility Power

January 2, 2024 Just the News

President Joe Biden’s signature $5 billion program to convert the nation’s school buses to an electric fleet has collided with a formidable challenge: a lack of charging infrastructure and power generation from local utilities.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog issued a report just before the New Year’s holiday that offered the latest evidence of a cart-before-horse dynamic in the Democratic push for green energy.

American Medical Association Restricts Two Scholarships on the Basis of Race

December 31, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation is offering students at least two scholarships on the basis of race, according to its website.

One of the scholarships is for black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and native Alaskan medical students, and the other is for black students only, according to its website. Similar scholarships have come under fire from conservative legal organizations, and one legal scholar said that scholarships selective on the basis of race may violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Commentary: The Battle for Higher Education

December 30, 2023 RealClearWire

Higher education is making news these days. In Congressional testimony, the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn couldn’t tell whether calling for the genocide of the Jews constituted harassment without knowing the context. The effects of their testimony reverberate.

Days later, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a lengthy report condemning “Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System.” Prominently featured was a detailed complaint about New College of Florida, where I serve as admissions director.

Biden Admin Targets Largest Christian University in U.S.

December 29, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

The Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at the largest Christian university in the U.S. in a new lawsuit.

Grand Canyon University (GCU) is the largest Christian university in the U.S. with over 100,000 students enrolled and over 85,000 online students as of fall 2022, according to their website. The FTC alleges that GCU engaged in deceptive business practices with its doctoral programs and that it also engaged in illegal telemarketing practices, according to the federal complaint filed in the District of Arizona.

Academic Groups Wary of UC San Diego’s Climate Change Grad Requirement

December 28, 2023 Just the News

The University of California San Diego does not require students to take courses in literature, foreign language, economics or U.S. government and history, receiving a “C” rating from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for its general education requirements.

Students haven’t been able to graduate for 10 years now without a diversity, equity and inclusion course, however, and next fall’s incoming class will have another arguably ideological obligation to fulfill: climate change.

Top Business Schools Push CRT and Other Progressive Ideas: Report

December 28, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

America’s prestigious business schools regularly push leftist ideologies, including critical race theory and environmental, social, and governance standards, according to a new report.

The Legal Insurrection Foundation launched the project through its CriticalRace.org database. It details the CRT and environmental, social, and governance initiatives at the top 10 business schools in the country, including minority scholarship programs, discriminatory admissions practices, and “anti-racism” trainings required for faculty members.

Catholic All-Girls College Reverses Trans Policy After Backlash

December 27, 2023December 27, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, is backtracking on its decision to allow men who identify as transgender women to enroll in the formerly all-female, Catholic institution.

The Daily Signal reported in November that Saint Mary’s College would allow men who identify as women to enroll at the college in the fall of 2024. That news was first reported by the Notre Dame student newspaper, The Observer.

Commentary: Teacher Union Power Is Still in Full Bloom

December 27, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

As a result of the Janus decision in 2018, no teacher or any public employee has to pay a penny to a union as a condition of employment. The good news is that since then, 20% of workers in non-right-to-work states have dropped out of their unions, according to a report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The not-so-good news is that 70% of teachers nationwide are still willingly paying union dues, a great deal of which goes to politics, specifically to progressive candidates and causes.

The California Teachers Association has the honor of being the biggest political-spending teachers’ union in the country. A recent report reveals that between 1999 and 2020, the 300,000+ member union spent an astonishing $222,940,629 on politics – about $6 million was spent on the federal level, while almost $217 million stayed in the state – with 98.2% of all spending going to Democrats. The top advocacy issues for CTA include regulating charter schools, immigration reform, social justice, and a slew of almost exclusively left-wing causes.

Parents Speak Out After Their Daughter Was Told to Sleep with a Boy Who Identified as a Girl

December 26, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

Parents Joe and Serena Wailes were shocked and horrified to discover that their 11-year-old daughter had been assigned to not only room with, but also share a bed with, a boy on her school trip.

That boy identified as a transgender girl, the Wailes say, and his parents had allegedly told the school district that he was operating under “stealth mode”—meaning that his gender identity was to be kept secret.

Report: Charter School Enrollment Increases in Georgia

December 24, 2023December 23, 2023 The Center Square

Georgia’s public charter school enrollment has grown over the last four years while enrollment at traditional schools has declined.

That’s according to state-level data the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools studied for a new report, “Believing in Public Education: A Demographic and State-level Analysis of Public Charter School and District Public School Enrollment Trends.”

Oklahoma Superintendent to Propose Rules to Ban Drag Queens and Diversity Programs from Classrooms

December 23, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

Oklahoma’s top education official proposed rules on Thursday that will eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, prevent drag queen performers from becoming teachers and will protect religious liberty in schools.

Republican Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters will be proposing the new rules at Thursday’s Oklahoma Board of Education meeting. One proposed rule allows for the dismissal of teachers who have “engaged in sexual acts” in front of children, the second rule would eliminate funding for DEI programs in K-12 schools and the final proposed rule would ensure that students are allowed to participate in voluntary prayer.

Harvard President Requests Even More Corrections to Her Academic Work as Plagiarism Accusations Mount

December 22, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

Harvard President Claudine Gay will request three new corrections to her Ph.D. dissertation following multiple plagiarism allegations, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Gay submitted two corrections to academic articles Friday involving “quotation marks and citations” but was the subject of fresh plagiarism allegations on Tuesday. Now, Gay is submitting additional corrections following a review undertaken by the Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing board; however, the Corporation said Gay’s actions did not constitute serious wrongdoing, according to the Crimson.

Embattled Harvard University Scrubs Multiple Web Pages About ‘Identity Recognitions,’ Pronouns

December 19, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

Harvard University scrubbed several web pages from the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department’s website, according to the web archive.

Two web pages, titled “Heritage Months and Identity Recognitions” and “Gender Identity and Pronouns at Harvard,” appear to have been deleted, according to the archives. Both links now route directly to the Diversity and Inclusion homepage.

Gov. Brian Kemp Announces $1,000 Bonus for Georgia Teachers, New Funding For School Safety

December 19, 2023 Tom Pappert

Governor Brian Kemp (R) announced a $1,000 bonus on Monday for those who work in Georgia’s schools, and introduce legislation to provide Georgia with more school funding and fund a permanent, annual bonus.

In a joint announcement with Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), and State Representative Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin), Kemp announced a $1,000 “state employee retention pay supplement” for more than 300,000 Georgia teachers and state employees who work in education.

Commentary: The Rapid Growth of Educational Freedom Is Unprecedented

December 18, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

According to the latest ABCs of School Choice – EdChoice’s comprehensive report about all matters pertaining to education freedom – policymakers in 40 states have debated 111 educational choice bills in 2023, 79 percent of which related to education savings accounts. (ESAs allow parents to receive a deposit of public funds into a government-authorized savings account with restricted, but multiple uses. Those funds can cover private school tuition and fees, online learning programs, private tutoring, community college costs, higher education expenses, and other approved customized learning services and materials).

Commentary: Rome’s Best Emperor Shunned Government Schools

December 18, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

The great classical scholar Edith Hamilton noted that the ancient Greeks frowned upon their Roman counterparts in regards to education. The former adopted public (government) schooling while the Romans left education to the family in the home. The snooty Greeks thought Romans were backward and unsophisticated. The Romans, of course, conquered the Greeks.

For most of the five centuries of the Republic, Romans were schooled at home where virtues of honor, character, and citizenship were emphasized. Not until the Republic’s last century or so did anything resembling government schooling emerge. Moreover, it was never so centralized, universal, and mandatory as it is in our society today. The English academic and cleric Teresa Morgan, in a 2020 paper titled “Assessment in Roman Education,” writes, “In no stage of its history did Rome ever legally require its people to be educated on any level.”

Judge Declines to Block Race-Based Admissions at U.S. Naval Academy

December 16, 2023 Georgia Star News Staff

A federal judge ruled Thursday against an injunction that would have temporarily halted the Naval Academy’s race-based admissions policies, according to Reuters.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a lawsuit against West Point in September and launched a second against the Naval Academy in October after winning two cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina on the same issue at the Supreme Court in June. U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett, however, ruled against SFFA’s request for an injunction, claiming that he felt the group had not proven the military’s use of race-based admissions for its academies was discriminatory, according to Reuters.