Latest news with #HouseEducationCommittee
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressman scolds protester at college antisemitism hearing: "Shut up and get out of here"
Florida Rep. Randy Fine slammed a protester who shouted during a House Education Committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. Fine also criticized leaders from several institutions about comments made by staff members regarding the Israel-Hamas war and the events that transpired on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Hill
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Watch live: House convenes hearing on antisemitism in higher education
Officials from three universities will testify before the House Education Committee Tuesday morning around accusations of rising antisemitism on college campuses. Leaders from Georgetown University in Washington, University of California, Berkeley, and the City University of New York will face questions from lawmakers over the 'the role of faculty, funding and ideology' in fueling antisemitism, according to the hearing notice. Earlier this year, the House also hammered the heads of Ivy League institutions over similar concerns after widespread pro-Palestinian protests erupted across campuses over the Isarel-Hamas war in Gaza. President Trump has vowed to investigate schools over antisemitism and also threatened to withhold funding from universities that allowed the 'illegal' demonstrations. At least 60 schools have been under the microscope in recent weeks, according to the Education Department. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. EDT.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri Governor signs bipartisan education legislation into law
Gov. Mike Kehoe speaks during a mid-legislative-session press conference with GOP leadership (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). There could be more retired teachers returning as substitutes and more home-schooled students will be able to participate in sports and other school activities, thanks to a stack of bipartisan education bills signed Wednesday by Gov. Mike Kehoe. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed 13 bills Wednesday, including numerous education provisions passed in a handful of bipartisan bills. Several more bill signings are planned before all work on legislation from the 2025 session hits a Monday deadline. State lawmakers this year debated a number of controversial proposals, like opening up school district enrollment boundaries or allowing for alternative methods of school accreditation. But the majority of education legislation that made it to the governor was widely supported on both sides of the aisle. 'From implementing distraction-free classrooms to expanding school safety efforts, the legislation signed into law this afternoon impacts both K-12 students and Missourians pursuing higher and career technical education,' Kehoe said in a news release. Here are some of the provisions Kehoe signed into law: Retired teachers may continue to fill in as substitutes on a part-time or temporary basis until 2030 without losing their benefit from the Public School Retirement System. The legislation is an extension of a 2022 law that was due to sunset this year. Three years ago, lawmakers saw a need to bring retirees into classrooms as COVID-19 reduced the teacher workforce and put a 2025 expiration on the provision. But the need for substitutes still exists. In the 2023-24 school year, 4,500 retired educators served as substitutes, according to data from the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri. State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Moberly Republican and House Education Committee chair, told The Independent last month that the law helps keep trained teachers in front of students. 'There would be open positions that would not get filled around the state (if the provision didn't pass),' he said. 'Many of them we would have completely unqualified people in those positions, when you have perfectly qualified people who might be a little bit older but have tons of experience.' This legislation applies to part-time and temporary substitutes. A different statute allows a handful of retirees to work full-time. Since 2003, retired teachers have been able to return full-time for two years, which lawmakers increased to four years in 2023. School districts will be required to establish policies for the upcoming school year that restrict cell-phone usage during the school day with few exceptions. Students with a disability that requires use of a mobile device are exempted, and cell phones are allowed during safety emergencies. Otherwise, including during lunch and between classes, students will be expected to keep their cell phones stowed unless told otherwise by a teacher. Roughly 53% of school leaders believe that cell-phone usage has hurt students' learning abilities and 72% say it has negatively impacted mental health, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. A St. Louis University/YouGov poll earlier this year found 76% of Missourians favor restrictions for elementary students, 75% for middle school and 70% for high school. State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, filed the bill this session with a proposal only to ban cell phone use during instructional time. Lawmakers ultimately passed a more restrictive policy, and Steinhoff believes kids will benefit. 'The statistics really do hold that if we do the (full day), bell to bell,' Steinhoff told The Independent in May. 'That's going to have the biggest turnaround.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Home-educated students will be able to join public schools' extracurricular activities in the upcoming school year. The legislation, proposed for over a decade in Missouri, will require public schools to allow homeschooled students to try out for sports teams and join clubs beginning in August. Previously, the Missouri State High School Activities Association allowed homeschoolers to join public-school teams if they were enrolled in two classes at the school. Districts could have more restrictive policies, with many denying access to those who weren't publicly educated full-time. For years, families with young athletes and performers have testified at the State Capitol for access to extracurricular activities. Some lawmakers worried about homeschooled students having separate academic and attendance standards, saying their participation could be unfair. But ultimately, it passed the Senate 30-3 and the House 94-44. A new law will allow school districts to hire chaplains or accept them as volunteers. The bill was not as widely accepted as some other education provisions passed this year and drew criticism from lawmakers who worry chaplains would use the opportunity to evangelize students instead of comforting those who already share their faith. The bill's sponsor state Sen. Rusty Black, a Chillicothe Republican and former educator, said he filed the bill to help students' and teachers' wellbeing. 'Allowing a school district to employ or have a chaplain as a volunteer would benefit students and faculty who are struggling mentally and spiritually,' he said in the Senate's discussion of the legislation in February. During the bill's hearing in the Senate Education Committee, a minister with the Satanic Temple of Missouri Virgil Ovid said he would welcome the opportunity to become a school chaplain. Lawmakers then added language that would limit chaplains to those that are members 'of a Department of Defense listed religious-endorsing organization recognized by the Armed Forces Chaplains Board,' which excludes satanic ministers. Legislation also signed Wednesday will ban hair discrimination in educational settings. Dubbed the 'CROWN Act,' which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, the law is part of a national movement to protect textured hair. The cities of St. Louis and Kansas City have protections for natural hair textures, and at least 27 states have enshrined the CROWN Act. The bill's sponsor state Sen. Barbara Washington, a Democrat from Kansas City, told the Senate in May that she has seen people treat her and loved ones differently based on hair texture. She hopes students can be free from the pressure to change their hair and should not lose out on opportunities 'simply because they chose to wear their hair in braids or an afro or dreadlocks.' The legislation bars educational institutions receiving state funds from placing restrictions on natural styles 'commonly associated with a particular race or origin.' Safety measures, like requiring hair nets, are permitted. Lawmakers chipped away at the University of Missouri System's exclusive rights to certain degrees, opening the doors for Missouri State University to offer doctoral degrees. State law has historically limited certain degree programs in public universities, giving the University of Missouri System dominance over PhD programs and research doctorates. But the changes will let Missouri State offer doctorate of philosophy degrees in subjects other than engineering. 'This legislation marks a significant milestone for Missouri State University,' Missouri State President Richard B. Williams said in a May press release. 'The ability to independently offer doctoral programs will help us better meet regional workforce needs across southwest Missouri and the state.' Missouri high school graduates will be able to attend career-tech programs using a grant mirrored after the state's A+ Program beginning in the 2026-27 school year. Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Ann Kelley, a Republican from Lamar, will use state funds to help students pursue careers in fields like agriculture, nursing, cosmetology and other areas with career-certificate programs. 'This will increase (the workforce) astronomically,' Kelley told The Independent. 'And it's great for the kids who are in those career-tech programs. It gives them another avenue to make themselves better.' To qualify, students will need to graduate high school with at least a 2.5 GPA, at least 95% attendance rate, 50 hours of unpaid tutoring and achieve proficiency in the Algebra I end-of-course exam. Students with high school career-tech certificates will also be eligible. State-funded colleges will expand the number of courses universally transferable in Missouri with a charge from lawmakers to collaborate on five 60-credit-hour degree programs. Since the 2018-19 school year, students have been able to transfer 42 credit hours between community colleges and universities that receive state funding. The new law will add 18 more transferable credit hours in the programs of business, biology, elementary education, psychology and nursing. Community colleges spoke in favor of the legislation in a House hearing, while representatives from four-year institutions said they hoped existing articulation agreements could stand. Colleges must have the degree programs negotiated and ready by the 2028-29 school year. 'If you go to a community college in southeast Missouri and you transfer to a four year school in northwest Missouri, we want it to be a seamless transition across the state,' the bill's sponsor, Republican state Rep. Cameron Parker of Campbell, told The Independent. 'So if you go to any community college, you will know what any of the four-year schools are going to take.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma House education leader calls Ryan Walters' school lunch mandate an 'empty threat'
Ryan Walters' demand that school districts fully fund student meals is an "empty threat," said a key lawmaker in legislating education policy in Oklahoma. House Education Committee Chair Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, described the state superintendent's directive as an attempt to overstep the authority of Walters' office and a threat to the powers of local school boards. Lowe, a former agriculture teacher, said in a news release that he considered Walters' demand an unfunded mandate, adding that state law clearly outlines what districts are required to fund, including minimum teacher salaries and limits on administrative spending. It does not require universally free meals, he said. "That decision rightly belongs to locally elected school boards, who know their communities best and are entrusted with setting district budgets according to local needs," Lowe said. "Districts that choose to use discretionary funds to cover meal costs for all students do so voluntarily, not because of any mandate from the state." In response to Lowe's comments, Walters said: "It's not a threat, but we are not surprised that there is misinformation when school districts are asked to be responsible for their budgets and taxpayer dollars." Lowe's remarks come two days after Walters pledged to 'force every school district to fully fund student meals using existing state and federal dollars.' He blamed 'bureaucratic bloat' for the cost of school lunches and claimed districts were 'triple-taxing parents to cover lunches while administrators pad their paychecks.' Walters said in his letter that districts that don't comply with his demand face 'a full financial audit' and said OSDE 'will review their budgets and demand administrative cost cuts to prioritize kids.' Administrators of some large districts have said picking up the tab for student meals could cost millions of dollars, an expense they hadn't budgeted for weeks before the start of the academic year. More: Ryan Walters wants to force school districts to fund student meals, blaming cost on 'bureaucratic bloat' Lowe said Walters' agency, the Oklahoma State Department of Education, had no legal basis to retaliate through sanctions over a district's budget decisions. "If Walters has legislative goals, I encourage him to be communicative with lawmakers year-round, not after session has adjourned and it's too late for the Legislature to consider any of his proposals," he said. (This story was updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters' school lunch funding mandate an 'empty threat,' Lowe says
New York Post
09-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Leaders of CUNY, other college antisemitism hotbeds to be grilled by House panel next month
CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez and two other college chiefs will be hauled before the House Education Committee next month to get grilled about the antisemitism that has festered at their schools. Rodríguez will join Georgetown University interim President Robert Groves and the University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons in testifying before the education panel July 9, officials said. The hearing will center around the role of 'faculty, funding and ideology' in fueling antisemitism on campuses and mark the second high-profile session the panel has had this year. The move comes after the panel's deep dive into antisemitism in non-Ivy League institutions last month. 'We continue to see antisemitic hatred festering at schools across the country,' said House Education Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) in a statement. 4 CUNY has been a hotbed of anti-Israel protests. Stephen Yang for NY Post 4 CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos is set to testify before the House Education Committee next month. 051525CUNYChancellor3wf 'While much of the discussion has focused on the devastating effects of antisemitism, this hearing will focus on the underlying factors instigating antisemitic upheaval and hatred on campus.' The City University of New York — the nation's largest public urban college system with 25 degree-granting institutions — has been dogged by complaints of antisemitism for years. An independent probe commissioned by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and released in September found that CUNY needed a top-to-bottom overhaul to combat 'alarming'' antisemitism fanned by its own faculty and do-nothing higher-ups. The state is the principal source of funding for CUNY's four-year schools, such as Hunter, and the Big Apple chips in to help pay for its community colleges. The governor and Mayor Eric Adams appoint the trustees to CUNY's policy-making board. There's been a spate of Jew-hating and Israel-bashing controversies since the latest Mideast war broke out Oct. 7, 2023. Just last week, The Post reported that the board chairman of CUNY's School of Labor and Urban Studies was forced to resign for spreading 'antisemitic conspiracy theories' about Israel. Anti-Israel agitators also brawled with cops at Brooklyn College last month after the protesters set up a tent encampment and disrupted final exams. An officer was forced to fire a Taser during the violent clash. 4 CUNY agitators have caused millions of dollars in damage. Anadolu via Getty Images In addition, last spring at City College in Harlem, anti-Israel criminals caused at least $3 million in damage and the need for costly extra security at the campus. Thus far, Rodriguez, first appointed in 2019, has weathered the storm. The board of trustees recently gave him a mostly positive job evaluation to continue leading the public university. Georgetown and Berkeley have faced similar issues amid anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. Last year, students and professors at Georgetown partook in a walkout to 'rally for Gaza' in demonstration against Israel's efforts to subdue the Palestinian terror group Hamas. In September, students gathered outside the building where the university president's office is located and chanted in favor of divesting from Israel. More recently, in April, the university's police were forced to pull multiple anti-Israel protesters out of a building after failing to heed demands to leave. Berkeley is meanwhile facing a lawsuit from Jewish groups accusing the university of allowing an 'unrelenting' slew of antisemitism to fester on campus. Infamously, the campus' chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine made an Instagram post that many interpreted as sounding sympathetic to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians. 'We support the resistance, we support the liberation movement, and we indisputably support the Uprising,' the group wrote shortly after the barbaric attack. Berkeley has been rife with anti-Israel protests since the inception of the war against Hamas. 4 House Education Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) is keen on complementing the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on antisemitism on campuses across the country. Getty Images Congressional Republicans on the education panel are hoping to dovetail with the Trump administration's broader efforts to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses. The Trump administration has withheld or threatened to withhold funding from colleges and universities that have not stepped up against antisemitism on campus. The Trump administration has also opened probes into antisemitism at several institutions of higher education. 'Until these factors—such as foreign funding and antisemitic student and faculty groups—are addressed, antisemitism will persist on college campuses,' Walberg wrote. 'Our Committee is building on its promise to protect Jewish students and faculty while many university leaders refuse to hold agitators of this bigotry, hatred, and discrimination accountable.'
