Recently, President Biden dipped his toe into the icy waters of controversy with an executive order “encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to ban ‘unnecessary occupational licensing restrictions,’” says Education Next. President Biden called the current state of affairs “overly burdensome occupational licensing requirements” and suggested that they create unfavorable conditions for some workers, including teachers,
“Why do parents choose a particular school? What information do they consider in making that choice? Do they prioritize high standardized test scores, rigorous college preparation, moral or religious instruction, or something else?” These probing questions by The Cato Institute spotlight an education topic that makes many people curious. Parents across the U.S. have diverse
Today’s narrative of systemic racism is an insult to the black Americans who lived through the Jim Crow South. At least, that’s how Sheila Qualls sees it. Her father, born at the end of the 1920s, experienced the brunt of prejudice leading up to the Civil Rights movement. He was intimately familiar with the
Last Tuesday, the public comment section of the Montgomery County school board meeting in Virginia grew heated after parent Alecia Vaught accused Chairwoman Susan Kass of blatant disregard of her own mask policy. Vaught pulled up phone images of a maskless Kass in a crowd, prompting Kass to walk out of the meeting, according to
The U.S. Census Bureau found that 47% of US children ages 3 and 4 were enrolled in preschool in 2019. The Bureau also noted a growing trend of children enrolling in the country’s public and private preschool services between 2005 and 2019, with the majority of enrollment occurring in public preschool. As more parents invest
If you're like us here at the NWEF office, we love grabbing a good audiobook or podcast to take along on the work commutes, grocery store runs, road trips, and around-the-house activities that keep us busy. That's why we've launched not one, but TWO podcasts to help you stay current with
Last Tuesday, the Florida Education Committee passed a controversial bill that would prohibit elementary school districts from initiating conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity. While the bill is meant to advocate for parents’ rights in education, critics are concerned that the bill will remove protections from LGBTQ kids in school and cause trouble for
You’re not alone if you’ve wondered whether your child is safe perusing the library shelves alone. For Stacy Langton, a Virginia mom whose older kids attend Fairfax High School, these concerns became a shocking reality. She had seen stories of school districts around the country where pornographic materials were found in children’s books. On a
By the time education laws take effect in local schools, it can be easy to forget where they came from. When parents heard that Southampton High School was on lockdown and a weapon and contraband search underway, their minds probably didn’t jump to Virginia code § 22.1-279.3:1. That’s a section of code that deals with
School board members of the Virginia Commonwealth are gathering together on Saturday, Feb. 26 in Lynchburg, Virginia for a one-day event titled School Board Summit: Equipping New Leaders for Positive Impact. This event will serve to help school board members better serve their communities. The School Board Summit was created as a resource and networking
