Lawmakers reject color-coded student IDs by test score
California lawmakers have voted to prohibit a controversial practice by Kennedy and Cypress High Schools that required students to carry color-coded ID cards and notebooks based on their…
Legislation
Obama proposal to raise dropout age falls flat
President Barack Obama's call for states to raise the minimum age at which students can drop out of high school seems about as popular as a homework assignment…
School schedules get a makeover from coast to coast
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Ill. lawmakers vote to abolish tuition waiver perk
After years of bad publicity over cronyism and clout, the Illinois Legislature has voted to end a longstanding program that allowed each lawmaker to hand out taxpayer-funded college…
NH House, Senate pass school tax credit bills
The New Hampshire's House and Senate passed similar plans Wednesday to give businesses a tax credit for donating to scholarship organizations to send students to private or public…
New Jersey town bans texting while walking
As a slew of U.S. states have passed laws to ban texting while driving, one New Jersey town upped the ante with its texting-while-walking ban. Pedestrians in Fort…
Senate bill on the use of restraint would tie school leaders’ hands
The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would prohibit the use of seclusion and restraint, the very practice that has enabled many students with serious emotional or…
Illinois state Senate votes to end legislative scholarships
The Illinois Senate agreed Thursday to stop letting lawmakers hand out free college education to certain constituents, removing the final roadblock to ending a century-old practice plagued by…
Watch: Colbert on ‘don’t say gay’ in school bill
There is a bill now being considered by Missouri legislators that would come close to banning all conversations in public schools about sexual orientation as well as bar…
Kindergarten bill would require ‘maturity test’ for thousands, shift age cutoff date
Thousands of Tennessee children would be required to pass a "maturity test" every year to enter kindergarten under a new bill passed by the state House of Representatives…
Tennessee governor ‘probably’ will sign evolution bill
Tennessee, where the nation's first big legal battle over evolution was fought nearly 90 years ago, is close to enacting a law that critics deride as the "monkey…
Readers: Parents not experienced enough to run failing schools
It must be exasperating to be a parent whose child is in a "failing" school, with nowhere else to go. But should parents be allowed to take over…
Bill to ban school fines considered by General Assembly
Following a media firestorm prompted by outcry from parents and students at schools in Chicago's Noble Street Charter Network, Illinois legislators are now considering a bill that would…
Florida rejects ‘Parent Trigger’ bill for failing schools
Florida's state Senate narrowly killed a bill on Friday that would have allowed parents with children in failing public schools to leapfrog their local school boards and take…
Mass. panel backs school dropout age of 18
Massachusetts high school students would be required to stay in school until age 18 under a bill approved Thursday by a legislative panel hoping to reduce the number…
Utah lawmakers pass bill to curb sex education in schools
Utah would become the first state to ban public schools from teaching contraception as a way of preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases under a bill given final…
Arizona House votes to repeal gun-free school zones
The Republican-controlled Arizona House of Representatives has voted to repeal the state's gun-free school zone laws, setting up a potential battle that only Gov. Jan Brewer (R) may…
Watch: South Carolina high school dropouts could lose driver’s licenses under new bill
Playing hooky? Fine, but South Carolina students shouldn't expect to be doing it while cruising around town, the Huffington Post reports.
Online students brace for new rules in Colorado
Colorado lawmakers are talking about several measures to increase oversight for the booming online school industry, and their efforts could inspire similar legislation elsewhere as well.
SD House panel passes bill on juvenile sexting
A South Dakota lawmaker more narrowly defined "juvenile sexting" on Monday, saying he doesn't think the illegal activity should fall under the child pornography law, the Associated Press…
Abstinence-only sex education bill in Utah prohibits teaching contraception
A bill requiring sex education classes to teach an abstinence-only curriculum moved closer to becoming a law in Utah Wednesday, the Huffington Post reports.
Alabama bill will allow churches to teach religion classes to public school students
A bill in Alabama would allow churches or ministries to teach a religion class to public school students off campus, so long as parents and school boards give…
Oklahoma politician links video game violence to teen bullying
Is there a link between violent video games and bullying? According to one Oklahoma State Representative, the answer to this question is "yes," and in an effort to…
Illegal school fees the target of new legislation
Bolstered by a recent court ruling, a Southern California assemblyman filed legislation last week that seeks to crack down on school districts that charge parents and students fees…
NY gov amps up pressure on teachers, legislature
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Wednesday that the "Battle of Albany" is on, the Associated Press reports.
Florida ‘Trigger bills’ ready to start power battle with educators
I'm a mom. I'm also a teacher. I have taught thousands of kids over the last 20 years of my career. When I walk into a school or…
Guns at school? Colorado Republicans say ‘Yes’
Colorado state senators on Monday rejected legislation proposed by Republicans that would allow concealed weapons on school campuses, KJCT 8 News reports.
NY bill would make crimes out of SAT cheating
New York would make felonies out of cheating on the SAT college entrance test under a bill released Tuesday as part of a legislative investigation into a scandal…
‘Tim Tebow homeschool law’ gains momentum in Virginia
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and a Republican-dominated Senate have given new life to an effort to pass legislation that would give permission to students who are homeschooled to…
Teacher tenure is under increased attack
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After protest, Congress puts off internet piracy bill
Caving to a massive campaign by internet services and their millions of users, which also included universities such as Syracuse and MIT, Congress on Jan. 20 indefinitely postponed…
Colleges join Wikipedia in SOPA blackout protests
Syracuse University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) joined several of the web’s most visited sites, including Wikipedia, in a partial blackout to speak out against pending…
Google joins anti-SOPA protest by “censoring” its logo
Although it didn't black out any of its sites entirely, Google has joined the anti-SOPA protest by putting up a censored version of its logo, visible only to…
Wikipedia to be blacked out over anti-piracy bill
Wikipedia will black out the English language version of its website Wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress, the foundation behind the popular community-based online encyclopedia…
Missouri immigration bill copies Alabama, would require schools to check student immigration status
In a move similar to ones chided by federal courts in Alabama and Arizona, one Kansas City area lawmaker has proposed a bill that would require Missouri schools…
Ed tech unfunded in $1 trillion spending bill
Congress has passed a $1 trillion omnibus spending measure that continues funding for the Obama administration’s signature “Race to the Top” competition and includes a very modest increase…
Alabama law limits students’ gifts to teachers
An Alabama teacher who accepts a Christmas ham or a $25 gift card from a student is breaking Alabama's ethics law. The possible penalty? Up to a year…
Google exec: Online piracy bills in Congress wrong
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Wednesday that it would be a mistake for Congress to approve Hollywood-backed legislation meant to combat online piracy because it would be…
Understanding SOPA: The House debates the Stop Online Piracy Act
This week, some of the biggest companies on the web came out in full force to oppose a proposed anti-piracy bill wending its way through Congress, Today in…
State Senate passes bill requiring Pledge of Allegiance in schools
A bill that requires every Michigan public school student to start the day by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance has been approved by the state Senate, the Huffington…