Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice

Senate confirms Linda McMahon to lead Education Department as Trump vows to shut it down [Video]

CBS News

The Senate voted Monday to confirm former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as the nation’s education chief, a role that places her atop a department that President Trump has vilified and vowed to dismantle. McMahon will face the competing tasks of winding down the Education Department while also escalating efforts to achieve Mr. Trump’s agenda. Already the president has signed sweeping orders to rid America’s schools of diversity programs and accommodations for transgender students while also calling for expanded school choice programs. At the same time, Mr. Trump has promised to shut down the department and said he wants McMahon “to put herself out of a job.”

There’s Nothing “Final” About McMahon’s Mission to Destroy the Department of Education

Kevin Carey, New America

Hours after the Senate confirmed her as the U.S. Secretary of Education, embattled professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon sent her staff an email charging them with a “final mission” to destroy the Department from within. Eliminating the Department is a deeply unpopular idea. A New America poll commissioned in late February found that only one-quarter of adults support the department’s closure. While the Trump administration claims it is acting on an electoral mandate, the poll found that barely half of Republicans want closure in general, and less than a third of Republicans support the specific consequences of shuttering the Department, like moving student financial aid to an agency with no experience helping low-income students afford college.

How Do We Combat the Racist History of Public Education?

Naomi Elias, The Nation

Eve L. Ewing has spent much of her career examining inequities in our educational system, in works such as Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side, an in-depth look at a 2013 school policy decision that resulted in mass school closures that disproportionately affected Black communities. In her latest book, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, The Chicago-born educator, poet, and sociologist at the University of Chicago likens her work to the curious walking pattern of the mythical Sankofa, a bird who walks forward while looking back. The book’s focus is on what Ewing calls the “structural afterlives” of America’s two original sins: chattel slavery and the cultural genocide of Native Americans. 

Language, Culture, and Power

Trump’s Order to Make English Official Language Does Nothing But Embolden Xenophobia

Julianne McShane, Mother Jones

On Saturday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order making English the country’s “official language.” The move is a bureaucratic—and largely symbolic—means of enacting Trump’s xenophobic agenda. Practically, it revokes an executive order signed by former President Bill Clinton in August 2000 that required federal agencies to provide services to people with limited English proficiency. Trump’s order doesn’t actually require agencies to stop providing translated documents and interpretation services; instead, the decision will now be up to agency heads.

The Ripple Effects of Immigration Raids [Audio]

Scholars Strategy Network

Discussions about immigration and deportation often focus on politics, policies, and legal battles. But what happens to the people at the heart of it all? Professor William Lopez shares the story of one family’s experience to illustrate the far-reaching consequences of deportation. He breaks down the emotional, health, and financial toll of these enforcement actions—not just on those directly affected, but on teachers, faith leaders, and entire communities caught in the ripple effects.

Moms for Liberty’s Next Target Is Restorative Justice

Chris Walker, Truthout

Moms for Liberty, a far right organization that advocates against lessons on LGBTQ rights and racial justice in schools, has announced its next target: restorative justice programs that address student misconduct through mediation and relationship building, rather than traditional punishment structures. Since its inception in 2021, Moms for Liberty has been on the frontlines of the right-wing crusade against public schools, calling for an end to the Department of Education, waging war against teacher’s unions, and spreading dangerous conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and transgender youth — all in the name of so-called “parental rights.” Its chapters have implemented book bans in school districts across the U.S., largely targeting LGBTQ stories and books written by people of color.

Whole Children and Strong Communities

AI chatbots can cushion the high school counselor shortage — but are they bad for students?

Tara García Mathewson, CalMatters

During the pandemic, longtime Bay Area college and career counselor Jon Siapno started developing a chatbot that could answer high schoolers’ questions about their future education options. He was using IBM’s question-answering precursor to ChatGPT, Watson, but when generative artificial intelligence became accessible, he knew it was a game-changer.  “I thought it would take us maybe two years to build out the questions and answers,” Siapno said. “Back then you had to prewrite everything.” An AI-powered chatbot trained on information about college and careers and designed to mimic human speech meant students at the Making Waves Academy charter school in the East Bay city of Richmond could soon text an AI Copilot to chat about their futures.

Privacy or safety? Colorado lawmakers consider reupping prohibition on facial recognition technology in schools.

Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat

Colorado lawmakers want to extend a statewide prohibition on facial recognition technology in schools while also placing some guardrails on its use in districts where the technology has been allowed to be used. Current law says K-12 schools cannot contract with any vendor for facial recognition services unless the contract was in place before Aug. 10, 2022 — or relates to a widely available consumer product such as a smartphone. Senate Bill 143 mostly extends that provision while also renewing a debate about whether the technology can keep students and schools safe or whether it’s a violation of student privacy.

Instead of policing student use of AI, California teachers need to reinvent homework

William Liang (10th grade student journalist), CalMatters

The education sector has sleepwalked into a quagmire. While many California high schools and colleges maintain academic integrity policies expecting students to submit original work, a troubling reality has emerged: Generative AI has fundamentally compromised the traditional take-home essay and other forms of homework that measure student thinking. A striking gulf exists between how teachers, professors and administrators think students use generative AI in written work and how we actually use it. As a student, the assumption I’ve encountered from authority figures is that if an essay is written with the help of ChatGPT, there will be some sort of evidence — a distinctive “voice,” limited complexity or susceptibility to detection software.

This is a dangerous fallacy.

Access, Assessment, Advancement

California tribal college looks to become independent, but financial questions loom

Michael Burke, Ed Source

After operating for the last six years as an affiliate of a nearby community college, California Indian Nations College appears likely to become the state’s only standalone, fully accredited tribal college. It’s something education experts say would be a boon for Native American students who now start and complete college at lower rates than other ethnic groups. But first, money has to be found to ensure the college can survive, let alone expand and build its own campus. A two-year and mostly online institution based in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, the college achieved a big step forward toward its goals recently. It got preliminary approval for accreditation, allowing it to independently offer classes and transferable credits and distribute financial aid. The college expects to have full accreditation within the next year.

Don’t Believe the Critics of DEI: Racial Classifications Can Promote Belonging and Understanding

Kevin Cokley, Diverse Education

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title VI, the federal law that bans race, color, or national origin-based discrimination in education. Intended to promote equality and prevent discriminatory practices, Title VI was created during a time when segregation of schools was legal, Black voters were systematically disenfranchised, and Black people often faced violence and intimidation from white supremacist groups. It is important to remember that the historical context for banning racial discrimination is inextricably connected to the discrimination and violence Black people faced during the Civil Rights Era.

A case study of what’s ahead with Trump DEI crackdowns: Utah has already cut public college DEI initiatives

Olivia Sanchez, Hechinger Report

Nineteen-year-old Nevaeh Parker spent the fall semester at the University of Utah trying to figure out how to lead a student group that had been undercut overnight by matters far beyond student control. Parker, the president of the Black Student Union, feared that a new Utah law banning diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public colleges had sent a message to students from historically marginalized groups that they aren’t valued on campus. So this spring, while juggling 18 credit hours, an internship, a role in student government and waiting tables at a local cafe, she is doing everything in her power to change that message. Because the university cut off support for the BSU — as well as groups for Asian American and for Pacific Islander students — Parker is organizing the BSU’s monthly meetings on a bare-bones budget that comes from student government funding for hundreds of clubs.

Inequality, Poverty, Segregation

A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is About to Collapse.

Emily Schwing, ProPublica

Nearly two dozen children in the tiny village of Sleetmute, Alaska, arrive for school each morning to a small brown building that is on the verge of collapse. Every year for the past 19 years, the local school district has asked the state for money to help repair a leaky roof. But again and again, the state said no. Over time, water ran down into the building, causing the supporting beams to rot. A windowpane cracked under pressure as heavy snow and ice built up on the roof each winter. Eventually, an entire wall started to buckle, leaving a gaping hole in the exterior siding. In 2021, an architect concluded that the school, which primarily serves Alaska Native students, “should be condemned as it is unsafe for occupancy.”

Thousands of University of California workers go on strike alleging unfair bargaining tactics

AP News

Tens of thousands of University of California physician assistants, optometrists, and other health care and custodial workers went on strike Wednesday over alleged unfair labor practices and staffing shortages. The strikes by two unions representing nearly 60,000 health care and service workers are separate and come after the unions and 10-campus university system failed to reach a new contract. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, or AFSCME Local 3299, and the University Professional Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119, also went on strike in November alleging unfair bargaining tactics, which the university system denied.

How schools can improve gender equality in Latin America

Natalia López-Hornickel, The Conversation

In Latin America, deeply ingrained cultural beliefs about gender roles – what women and men should and shouldn’t do – persist. This is despite increased involvement by women in traditionally male spheres, such as business and politics. And these ideas are held among young people, too. A study in 2020 found that only 32% of adolescents in Latin America fully support gender equality. My past research has found that in Mexico, 63.6% of teenagers believe women should not be involved in politics. In Chile and Colombia, however, teens’ support for gender equality is much higher. This disparity suggests that gender attitudes are shaped by broader social and political contexts.

Democracy and the Public Interest

Texas may change how schools select library books. Critics say it could lead to more bans.

Pavan Acharya, Texas Tribune

A bill that would give parents more power over which books their children can read in public school libraries will soon go before Texas senators for a full vote. The measure was approved Tuesday by a 10-1 vote in the Senate Committee on Education K-16. Introduced last month by Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, Senate Bill 13 would represent an overhaul of how schools decide what books are placed in their libraries. SB 13 would require that school boards, rather than librarians, have the final say over which new books or materials can be put in school libraries. The bill would also create a way for parents to challenge any library book and have it removed from shelves until the school board decides whether that material is allowed.

What Now for Democrats for Education Reform?

Maurice Cunningham, The Progressive

Mary Tamer, a former Boston School Committee member and public education advocate, seemed like a natural fit to lead the Massachusetts chapter of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER-M) when she was named its executive director in 2022. But Tamer, who has since been ousted from DFER-M, is now engaged in a bitter legal dispute with its national parent group, claiming that DFER is a rightwing front for billionaires like Charles Koch.  A group of New York hedge fund managers formed DFER in 2007 to promote charter schools. The organization’s founders saw Democrats as the barrier to privatizing education through charter schools. “So it dawned on us,” founder Whitney Tilson said, “that it had to be an inside job. The main obstacle to education reform was moving the Democratic Party, and it had to be Democrats who did it, it had to be an inside job.”

What is a charter school, really? Supreme Court ruling on whether Catholic charter is constitutional will hinge on whether they’re public or private

Preston Green and Suzanne Eckes, The Conversation

In April 2025, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the nation’s first religious charter school can open in Oklahoma. The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be funded by taxpayer money but run by a local archdiocese and diocese. The case is often discussed in terms of religion, and a decision in the school’s favor could allow government dollars to directly fund faith-based charter schools nationwide. In part, the justices must decide whether the First Amendment’s prohibition on government establishing religion applies to charter schools. But the answer to that question is part of an even bigger issue: Are charters really public in the first place?

Other News of Note

Woke Wars w/ Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor & Mike McCarthy [Audio]

Daniel Denvir, The Dig

Featuring Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Mike McCarthy on the MAGA and DOGE war on woke; the complicity of bankrupt liberal identity politics; and the centrality of various oppressions to the class domination of capital and struggles against it.