A new Trump administration rule regarding immigrants' use of federal benefits could have an indirect but significant impact on schools if it deters families from seeking assistance under certain programs, education advocates warn. The administration has released its final rule for what's known as "public charge." This is the process by which the U.S. government determines if an immigrant seeking to become a permanent resident or extend a visa is likely to become "primarily dependent" on federal benefits—such a determination can lead the government to deny permanent residency or the visa  view article

Gov. Tom Wolf was hailed as a public education hero by advocates for public schools on Tuesday as they gathered to celebrate the historic increases in funding included in the 2019-20 budget.  But Wolf made it clear that despite pushing the lifeblood of state funding to school districts to a new high-water mark of $6.2 billion, he’s not done yet. view article

Thankfully not Texas - js - : The Vermilion Parish School Board has voted to place Superintendent Jerome Puyau on administrative leave. The vote was 4-3.  Once again the superintendent will be investigated on the following accusations; view article

Federal authorities have charged former Bossier Parish Schools Superintendent Scott Smith with illegal receipt of mail-order prescription drugs. Smith, 61, was charged with four misdemeanor counts of simple possession of a controlled substance because the drugs he ordered were sleep- and anti-anxiety medications intended to help him with the stresses of his job, individuals familiar with his case said. They were not narcotics like opiods, which are more strictly regulated and carry stiffer penalties. view article

You've got to spend money to make money. But that's not the way Texas, and a handful of other states, are looking at the 2020 census. Officials in Texas have decided not to spend any money or make statewide plans for the census, despite the fact the state experienced massive population growth in the past decade.  With federal dollars at risk, the state's major cities, business leaders and even non-profits say they are being forced to step-in instead. view article

Tennessee’s state-run model for school turnaround hasn’t worked, according to new research, which also casts doubt on another locally run school-improvement program in Memphis.  The Achievement School District, or ASD, created to turn around Tennessee’s lowest-performing schools, has not generated improvements to student achievement during any of the district’s first six years, a research brief released Tuesday by the Tennessee Education Research Alliance shows.   view article

Cleveland ISD held a topping out ceremony to celebrate passing a significant construction milestone for its new high school additions and Cottonwood Elementary on July 10. The district held the topping out ceremony to recognize the last beam being placed on top of the buildings. Both buildings will be available to the school district in fall 2020. view article

Texas High school students will soon be required to fill out an application for federal financial aid.  This new program started in Louisiana and when Texas educators saw it at work they knew they needed to get in on the act.  When it comes to college, high school students typically worry about two things. What school they're going to attend and how much it will cost. view article

In what’s been described as a landmark investment from the federal government in social-emotional learning, the House of Representatives approved a spending bill last month that included $260 million in funding for what it calls “whole child” initiatives within the Department of Education. The funding is divided into four areas: view article

Twenty Democratic candidates debated over two nights this week about why they should be the party’s choice to take on President Trump in next year’s election. Five moderators asked questions for hours, but somehow, fundamental education issues were never raised. Here are just some of the issues that could have been topics for questions by moderators Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Jose Diaz-Balart: view article

One day after voters overwhelmingly rejected a $500 million-a-year parcel tax, Los Angeles city and school leaders sent a message to voters: We’ve heard your concerns. And we’re going to keep fighting to fund our schools.  “This is just the beginning of our fight,” Superintendent Austin Beutner said as he launched into Wednesday’s news conference. “When I took on this challenge just about a year ago, I knew it would not be easy. Decades of underfunding, strained relationships with those who work in schools, not enough progress in helping all students succeed and a lack of trust by many in the community. view article

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — A city in Arkansas is offering to pay for teachers' master's degree tuition in an effort to lure them to school districts experiencing shortages in Pine Bluff.  Ryan Whatley is the director of the organization Go Forward Pine Bluff . He told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that teachers can obtain their master's degree in teaching free of charge if they meet certain requirements.  Recommended Video  The Teach Pine Bluff Initiative would allow certified teachers with bachelor's degrees to attend University of  view article

There is a growing and disturbing trend of anti-intellectual elitism in American culture. It's the dismissal of science, the arts, and humanities and their replacement by entertainment, self-righteousness, ignorance, and deliberate gullibility. Susan Jacoby, author of The Age of American Unreason, says in an article in the Washington Post, "Dumbness, to paraphrase the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, has been steadily defined downward for several decades, by a combination of heretofore irresistible forces. These include the triumph of video culture over print culture; a disjunction between Americans' rising level of formal education and their shaky grasp of basic geography, science and history; and the fusion of anti-rationalism with anti-intellectualism."  view article

A Mississippi school district has been ordered to desegregate its schools after what the Justice Department called a five-decade-long legal battle. The Cleveland School District, about two hours northwest of Jackson, was told that it must consolidate its schools in order to provide real desegregation for students in the city of about 12,000. view article