ICYMI: Arctic Edition (2/1)

Punxsutawney Phil will be lucky to even get out of his hole tomorrow, let alone see a shadow. Hope you are staying warm wherever you are. It has been a cold, ugly week, and folks are writing about many things besides education, and Lord knows there are many aspects of the current state of our nation that demand our attention. But there have been many pieces of education news happening in the background, and the mission here at the Institute is to keep some focus on them. So here we go with this week's reading list.

Editorial: Snub of Linda McMahon puts Fairfield parents on right side of history

Linda McMahon was canceled in Connecticut. Her History Rocks tour was supposed to stop at an elementary school in Fairfield. Parents said they'd rather not. The Hearst Connecticut Media Editorial Board says the parents got it right. 

DeSantis seeks to supplement Florida school vouchers with federal tax plan

Jeffrey Solochek at the Tampa Bay Times reports that DeSantis is not only opting in on federal vouchers, but wants to pile them on top of Florida's state vouchers so Florida parents can double dip. 

The Fault Line in American politics?

Nancy Flanagan considers a stunning little bar graph showing how states' education data lines up with its voting habits.

Snow Day

Audrey Watters considers snow days and, as always, a host of useful links to articles.

I try to answer the "So what?" question

Stephen Dyer has been prying apart the details of Ohio's messed-up funding system. Now he takes a step back to look at the whole picture, and possible solutions.

Trump Drops DEI Case Appeal. Is He Really Giving Up?

Jan Resseger looks at some of the journalist reactions to the regime's abandonment of their appeal over that anti-CEI Dear Colleague letter. 

After almost two-year wait, education advocates call on Supreme Court to rule on Leandro

The Leandro case in North Carolina is one of the very first cases in which the state was sued to force proper funding of education. It is also a demonstration of how plaintiffs can win such a case, resulting in the state doing not a damn thing for decades. So maybe the court can rule on it some more? James Farrell at WFAE is reporting.

Two School Districts Sue, Claiming Alaska Is Failing Its Constitutional Obligation to Fund Public Education

Alaska is getting its own version of the Leandro case. Good luck with that. Emily Schwing has the details at ProPublica.

State Board of Education poised to require Bible readings for public school students

We're talking Texas, where the state is getting ready to set a whole list of required readings that are very white and male and which include a bunch of Bible stuff. Erin Davis at Spectrum Local News.

Reynolds introduces bill supporting public charter schools as demand increases

Remember when one of the selling points of charters was that they would save taxpayers money by being more efficient and less expensive. Well, in a move that surprises nobody who was paying attention, the governor of Iowa now announces that charters are being picked on because they don't get all the taxpayer dollars that a public school gets.

Virginia Lawmakers Consider Standards for Private School Coupon Schemes

Andy Spears reports that Virginia might actually be preparing to resist federal school vouchers.

Moving Special Ed to HHS Will Treat It Like a Medical Problem. It’s Not

Chantal Hinds and Kings Floyd make the argument that special education should not be the purview of Health and Human Services. Honestly, the argument that RFK Jr shouldn't be in charge of anything at all should be sufficient, but if you want some more reasoning, this article at The 74 has you covered.

Senate Republicans fast-track universal open enrollment bill to House; could become law in weeks

The New Hampshire legislature is fast-tracking a bill to create open enrollment. Ethan Dewitt reports for New Hampshire Bulletin.

Trump administration finds California’s ban on ‘forced outing’ of students violates federal law

Because the feds are all for forced outing of LGBTQ students to their families. Eric He at Politico.

The Supreme Court will decide whether to turn teachers into informants against their students

That issue may be decided by the Supreme Court. Ian Millhiser provides good information on the case. the context, and the background. 

To avoid accusations of AI cheating, college students are turning to AI

Well, you knew this was coming. It's the AI-powered cheating arms race. Tyler Kingkade reports for NBC News.

At Forbes.com this week, I took a look at Bernie Sanders' response to the federal voucher program.

This week's music is from a little-remembered film. Dr. Seuss wrote the movie (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T) and it did not turn out nearly as well as one might have hoped, but it still has delirious production design and a set of nifty songs. Hans Conried sings this one.

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