Latest news with #educationPolicy
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
North Yorkshire Council accused of 'cynical ploy' over transport
A council has been accused of a "cynical ploy" after telling parents they would no longer be eligible for free school transport for their children just before the half-term Yorkshire Council sent its decision notice out by email on Friday outlining the new policies on home-to-school free transport eligibility has been for children living in rural areas with long journeys to school that were paid for by the on Friday councillors voted to approve a change to the scheme, that means provision is based on the distance to a pupil's nearest school rather than any school of their choice within the catchment area. £4.2m saving Altering the eligibility rules would save the council £42m a year, and is currently the authority's third-largest council has defended the policy change, and said the move would make savings at a time of severe financial added that the new policy was "fairer" because under the old system, some families claimed the grants for journeys to more than one school for their for children and young people, Stuart Carlton, said the information had been sent as quickly as possible, and parents who had already been in touch would receive families of children due to start secondary school in September were informed on 30 May and those with children due to start primary school are due to find out by 30 June. 'Cynical ploy' Those who have complained are those who wish to send their child to a school within their catchment area but which is not the closest one to their home, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said, and campaign group School Transport Action Group (STAG) has called for the policy to revert to the old criticised the council for telling parents on a Friday afternoon before a Bank Holiday weekend when no council staff were available to answer queries."This adds insult to injury," STAG said."Anguished parents have been left in the dark as to what they are supposed to do now."This seems a really cynical ploy by the council to deliver bad news and then not be on hand to help sort out the mess."We're starting to wonder what North Yorkshire parents have done to deserve this type of treatment from their council." Parent Rachael Berry, who lives near Skipton, received an email advising that her daughter would not be eligible for free transport because Skipton Girls' High School, where she has a place, was not their nearest school."It's going to be a time of confusion for parents about what to do next."The bus passes are allocated on a first-come-first served basis, so we need to get the message out to check if you've got an email, and get your application in as soon as possible."The Green Party councillor for Great Ouseburn, a small village between Ripon and York, said the council needed to "be careful" about how it treated families, and the decision should not be made for "convenience"."Sometimes there's no solution for everyone, but what you can do with everybody is give them due consideration," Arnold Warneken said. "We've sent these emails out when there will be nobody at the council for three days and nobody at the schools to talk to for 10 days because it's half-term. "This seems to be being rushed through."Mr Carlton added: "We are aware that parents and carers have been waiting for information about the child's eligibility for assistance with home to school travel. Therefore, we have tried to provide the information as quickly as possible."The letters sent today provide information not only about whether their child is eligible for assistance with home to school travel, but also about how and where they are able to obtain further information about school travel arrangements, including information about the appeals process."We have already received correspondence from parents about the letters and we will be responding to them as soon as possible." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
8 statewide challenges influencing Belleville's high schools
Stories by Belleville News-Democrat journalists, with AI summarization Belleville's high schools face a range of statewide challenges that directly affect students and staff. Ongoing teacher shortages create stress and higher workloads, and nearly 60% of Illinois teachers say they are considering leaving the profession, often due to low pay and increased demands. Policy changes, such as moves to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, could reduce federal support for programs serving students with disabilities or from low-income families. Meanwhile, Belleville's districts are planning substantial security and accessibility upgrades, funded partly by rising property values, though continued funding remains uncertain. Changing policies—like stricter cell phone usage rules or responses to immigration enforcement on school grounds—also require schools to adapt their procedures. 'If there was any question why there's a teacher and education support staff shortage, there should not be one now.' | Published October 13, 2024 | Read Full Story by Brian Moline 'I think in the 18 years I've been up here, that is the largest projected increase in our equalized assessed valuation,' one superintendent said. | Published November 21, 2024 | Read Full Story by Kelly Smits 'This is an attempt to blame somebody,' member David Stein said. | Published January 6, 2025 | Read Full Story by Teri Maddox 'We're here to educate kids, help them socially, emotionally and make sure they're well-nourished. That's going to continue to be our focus,' one superintendent said. | Published January 31, 2025 | Read Full Story by Lexi Cortes Mike Koziatek 'I live here, I work here, and it's important that I educate my children here,' she said. | Published February 19, 2025 | Read Full Story by Madison Lammert 'We understand that this budget, although compassionate, still has a long way to go when it comes to really being able to close gaps.' | Published March 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Jessie Ngugen Jodran Owens 'We are probably going to be able to get more things done this summer for the amount of money we are spending than ever before,' Superintendent Ryan Boike said. | Published March 25, 2025 | Read Full Story by Madison Lammert 'The more students are on their phones, the less engaged they are,' the superintendent said. | Published April 29, 2025 | Read Full Story by Madison Lammert The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
CNN
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
DOJ opens civil rights probe into Virginia high school once at center of Supreme Court case
The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia over the use of race in admissions to its top-ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Last year, the US Supreme Court declined to hear arguments over the same allegations, but this investigation signals that the Trump administration will use the civil rights division to challenge affirmative action policies – a longtime hot-button issue for conservatives who claim that such admissions policies focus more on race than they do academic achievement. The investigation follows a referral from the state attorney general who announced Wednesday that his office had found reasonable cause to believe the district and the school discriminated against Asian American students on the basis of race. In a letter Wednesday, DOJ Civil Rights Division Chief, Harmeet Dhillon, confirmed her office will review the matter. The Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue of affirmative action before. In 2023, the high court threw out policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina that considered race in its admissions decisions. Their decision pushed schools to experiment with 'race neutral' policies – such as those based on geography – to promote diversity. The controversy at Thomas Jefferson High School in the Washington, DC, suburbs arose from a policy, which sought 'to mitigate socioeconomic obstacles faced by students of all races' by admitting students from every middle school in the county, CNN has reported A group of parents in Fairfax County sued the school board in 2021, alleging that the new policy sought to balance the student body's racial makeup by 'excluding Asian Americans,' who had comprised 70% of enrollment before the changes. A federal judge in 2022 ordered the school to stop using the new admissions policy, ruling that it was 'racially discriminatory,' but a panel of appeals court judges later reversed, saying that the policy did not disparately impact Asian American students and that the challengers didn't establish that it was adopted with discriminatory intent. Asra Nomani, a former Thomas Jefferson High School parent who has been actively involved in the litigation, told CNN that she is 'elated' by news of the investigation. 'I have always believed this was not an issue of parental advocacy, but of civil rights…this great day for efforts to win merit in America.' In a statement, the Fairfax County Public Schools responded: 'This matter has already been fully litigated. A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) division leadership and counsel are currently reviewing the documents released today by the Attorney General and will issue a more detailed response in the coming days. FCPS remains committed to providing a world class education for all of our students.' The Supreme Court also declined to hear similar challenges, including one accusing three elite Boston public schools with violated the Constitution by using a zip-code based admissions policy.
CNN
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
DOJ opens civil rights probe into Virginia high school once at center of Supreme Court case
The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia over the use of race in admissions to its top-ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Last year, the US Supreme Court declined to hear arguments over the same allegations, but this investigation signals that the Trump administration will use the civil rights division to challenge affirmative action policies – a longtime hot-button issue for conservatives who claim that such admissions policies focus more on race than they do academic achievement. The investigation follows a referral from the state attorney general who announced Wednesday that his office had found reasonable cause to believe the district and the school discriminated against Asian American students on the basis of race. In a letter Wednesday, DOJ Civil Rights Division Chief, Harmeet Dhillon, confirmed her office will review the matter. The Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue of affirmative action before. In 2023, the high court threw out policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina that considered race in its admissions decisions. Their decision pushed schools to experiment with 'race neutral' policies – such as those based on geography – to promote diversity. The controversy at Thomas Jefferson High School in the Washington, DC, suburbs arose from a policy, which sought 'to mitigate socioeconomic obstacles faced by students of all races' by admitting students from every middle school in the county, CNN has reported A group of parents in Fairfax County sued the school board in 2021, alleging that the new policy sought to balance the student body's racial makeup by 'excluding Asian Americans,' who had comprised 70% of enrollment before the changes. A federal judge in 2022 ordered the school to stop using the new admissions policy, ruling that it was 'racially discriminatory,' but a panel of appeals court judges later reversed, saying that the policy did not disparately impact Asian American students and that the challengers didn't establish that it was adopted with discriminatory intent. Asra Nomani, a former Thomas Jefferson High School parent who has been actively involved in the litigation, told CNN that she is 'elated' by news of the investigation. 'I have always believed this was not an issue of parental advocacy, but of civil rights…this great day for efforts to win merit in America.' In a statement, the Fairfax County Public Schools responded: 'This matter has already been fully litigated. A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) division leadership and counsel are currently reviewing the documents released today by the Attorney General and will issue a more detailed response in the coming days. FCPS remains committed to providing a world class education for all of our students.' The Supreme Court also declined to hear similar challenges, including one accusing three elite Boston public schools with violated the Constitution by using a zip-code based admissions policy.
CNN
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
DOJ opens civil rights probe into Virginia high school once at center of Supreme Court case
The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia over the use of race in admissions to its top-ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Last year, the US Supreme Court declined to hear arguments over the same allegations, but this investigation signals that the Trump administration will use the civil rights division to challenge affirmative action policies – a longtime hot-button issue for conservatives who claim that such admissions policies focus more on race than they do academic achievement. The investigation follows a referral from the state attorney general who announced Wednesday that his office had found reasonable cause to believe the district and the school discriminated against Asian American students on the basis of race. In a letter Wednesday, DOJ Civil Rights Division Chief, Harmeet Dhillon, confirmed her office will review the matter. The Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue of affirmative action before. In 2023, the high court threw out policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina that considered race in its admissions decisions. Their decision pushed schools to experiment with 'race neutral' policies – such as those based on geography – to promote diversity. The controversy at Thomas Jefferson High School in the Washington, DC, suburbs arose from a policy, which sought 'to mitigate socioeconomic obstacles faced by students of all races' by admitting students from every middle school in the county, CNN has reported A group of parents in Fairfax County sued the school board in 2021, alleging that the new policy sought to balance the student body's racial makeup by 'excluding Asian Americans,' who had comprised 70% of enrollment before the changes. A federal judge in 2022 ordered the school to stop using the new admissions policy, ruling that it was 'racially discriminatory,' but a panel of appeals court judges later reversed, saying that the policy did not disparately impact Asian American students and that the challengers didn't establish that it was adopted with discriminatory intent. Asra Nomani, a former Thomas Jefferson High School parent who has been actively involved in the litigation, told CNN that she is 'elated' by news of the investigation. 'I have always believed this was not an issue of parental advocacy, but of civil rights…this great day for efforts to win merit in America.' In a statement, the Fairfax County Public Schools responded: 'This matter has already been fully litigated. A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) division leadership and counsel are currently reviewing the documents released today by the Attorney General and will issue a more detailed response in the coming days. FCPS remains committed to providing a world class education for all of our students.' The Supreme Court also declined to hear similar challenges, including one accusing three elite Boston public schools with violated the Constitution by using a zip-code based admissions policy.
